The Yala Swamp Community

Gentrification is happening in Africa and with a familiar face: the face of local government and US Companies.

Mr. John Ayila of the Yala Swamp community gave the GGJ delegation a detailed presentation of what is happening in his community. The Yala Swamp community is a boundary of three districts between the Yala River and Lake Victoria. It is a delicate ecosystem with many endangered species and home to about 1 million people. The community has been battling over their ancestral land since the 1950’s when Kenyan officials took part of the land as their own. The land was reclaimed in 1972 and rice irrigation was started in the 1990’s.In the year 2003, Dominion Farms located in Oklahoma, created a settlement / lease for 25 years through the government of Kenya for the agricultural use of the land. The crops grown on the land are then shipped and sold in the United States.

Dominan Farms built a dam that has created a backflow of water which has displaced 810 families with 500 people and killed most of the livestock that provided food to the community. The Yala River was the only source of water for the people and the dam has eliminated its usage creating many illnesses. Dominian Farms has also cut many trees and asked for a license to grow rice. The cutting of the trees has contributed to the climate change in Kenya and on top of this, every fourth night, especially when people are working the land, the company sprays hazardous chemicals onto the crops. The spraying of these chemicals has caused death in livestock, increase in abortion rates and increase in flu and skin diseases which greatly contributes to the poverty rate increase in the Yala Swamp community.

Dominian Farms imported state of the art machinery to work the land, yet only 50 people from the Republic of Kenya are employed leaving the Yala Swamp community unengaged. The Kenyan government offered 45,000 shillings to the families so that they can purchase land elsewhere, but the people of Yala Swamp know that this is their ancestral land and that they have every right to stay.

The Yala Swamp community is one of the poorest in Kenya and vulnerable to the corrupt government. They have contracted with Parliamentarians and the government has not responded in two years. The community has also done peaceful demonstrations on the land, but 40 community members were arrested. There is now a police station in the company headquarters and anyone is arrested if they try and go against the company. Community members have gone so far as to try and spoil the companies’ crops but have been arrested causing much fear in any attempt against the company.The media in Kenya has reversed a role in the situation by praising Dominian Farms. The people of Yala Swamp are continuing to be displaced and have still not been compensated for the land the government sold and set aside for public use.

Knowing that this company is in the United States, the delegates of the Grassroots Global Justice Network decided to take this matter into our own hands. We knew that as US representatives in Kenya, we couldn’t go back home without starting a petition and boycott of Dominian Farm’s products. We are currently in the process of creating a petition and looking into other forms of helping the community.

One way to get involved is to contact someone from the Yala Swamp community yourself. If you want more information, please contact Cecil Agutu with Action Aid Kenya at 0733 98 7383 or Erastus Odindo (Yala Swamp Community) at 0734 265748 or email Kennedy Osano with Action Aid Kenya under Policy Research at kennedyosano@yahoo.com.