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There have already been reported cases of men abandoning their families and wives once the monies hit their accounts.
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The men in point are said to have gone ahead to marry younger women with whom they intend to blow the cash on.
Image: CHETI PRAXIDES
Calls have been made for financial experts to help Lamu fishermen with advice on how to manage their finances.
This is even as the Sh1.76 billion compensation money continues to flow into the beneficiaries' accounts.
The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has commenced payments of Sh250,000 to each of the affected fishermen after a seven-year wait.
There have already been reported cases of men abandoning their families and wives once the money hit their accounts.
The men in point are said to have gone ahead to marry younger women with whom they intend to blow the cash on.
The cash payments follow the ruling by the Malindi High Court in May 2018 which ordered the state to compensate a total of 4,734 Lamu fishermen the Sh1.76 billion.
This was after it was established that the Lapsset project had disrupted both the cultural and economic activities of the fisher folk community in the region.
The compensation exercise is expected to come to an end before the end of this week.
As at Wednesday, June 5, over 3,000 fishers had their accounts credited with the money as the process continues in batches.
According to the Lapsset Fishermen Compensation Committee, the fishermen need financial advice to enable them to put the monies to productive use.
Image: CHETI PRAXIDES
The committee chairperson Mohamed Somo expressed concern that, having waited for the cash for so many years, some beneficiaries may misuse the cash.
He revealed that his office has already received several cases from women who allege their husbands have abandoned them or changed for the worst altogether, once they confirmed the money had landed in their accounts.
“We are worried families and marriages will break because of this money. It’s obvious our people need financial advice so that they don’t blow the cash on useless things. Women are distraught that their husbands have already abandoned them. This is shameful," Somo said.
This incident borrows from that of February 2015 when the national government released Sh1.3 billion compensation monies to over 100 people whose lands had been acquired for the construction of the Lamu Port.
Some of those who received the millions have been rendered poor after they blew the cash on non-sustainable lifestyles.
A case in point was that of a man who was known to board a plane from Lamu’s Manda Airport to Malindi of Mombasa just to purchase a stack of Miraa or Muguka after which he would fly back home to Lamu Island.
“He also added more wives and lived an extremely wasteful life with the money. He had received Sh3 million shillings which was over in just a few months. He now survives by begging for alms and is very miserable. All the women fled once the cash flow ended,” a relative said.
Lamu elder Mohamed Shee said the compensation beneficiaries are in dire need of financial advice at this early stages when they are still receiving the cash so as to curb any intended ill spending.
The current disbursement of money to the respective fishermen’s bank accounts is the first phase of the compensation process.
The entire compensation exercise is in two phases where the first involves cash compensation while the second is payment is in kind.
As per the agreement between the KPA and the fishers, the fishermen will receive 65 per cent direct cash compensation.
The 35 per cent remainder will be set aside for the sustainability of Lamu County fishing activities, including the purchase of modern fishing gears, and the upgrading of local fish landing sites among other roles.