Lamu, KENYA: Former Lamu senator Anwar Loitiptip has blamed powerful land, political and drug cartels for being behind his current woes.
The senator’s win in the last election was nullified by the Appeal court in Mombasa last Thursday.
The court also directed the IEBC to conduct a fresh election in the next 60 days.
Speaking in Lamu on Sunday, Loitiptip said he was heavily confident that the recent court decision was mainly because of his hard stance on land grabbing, drugs and his vocal support of the poor and vulnerable in the county.
He said land grabbers and tycoons who are bent on stealing lands from the poor people of Lamu and selling drugs to the youth have sworn to ensure he doesn’t succeed in his agenda to redeem the region which he said has long been enslaved by the cartels.
Loitiptip, however, said the recent court decision won’t dampen his spirit and that his efforts to defend the vulnerable in Lamu rage on no matter the outcome of the legal duel.
“Since I came to office I have said no to three things; Land grabbing, drugs and exploitation of the poor and vulnerable. Apparently, as it is now, that has become my undoing since the cartels behind all these atrocities have decided to frustrate me. I know and I can prove it’s them. But let them rest easy because I won’t be stopping anytime soon,” said Loitiptip.
In January this year, the former senator sent jitters across the region when he threatened to expose the names of mega land grabbers in the county which he said included politicians and government officers.
He had indicated that the land grabbers had already reposed the 350,000 acres of land which had been revoked by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2015 and its ownership given back to the county.
The former senator also seems to have stepped on the toes of the mighty when in the same month of January, he threatened to expose the list of notorious drug dealers in the region after revealing that prominent politicians and government officers had also been featured.
“I know the exposes I threatened to make made any of them uncomfortable and they decided to remove me, after all, they are cartels. It doesn’t bother me and given the chance, I will still expose them so that world can know them,” he said.
The former senator has said he will be moving to challenge the decision of the Court of Appeal in the Supreme Court.
“I can never accept the court ruling under this circumstances. My lawyers are working round the clock and shall be presenting a petition soon,” said Loitiptip.
