The largest economic activity is tourism, mostly restricted to the centuries-old Swahili trading ports on the islands. The county is divided into two parts - the mainland sector, and a region of 65 islands once prosperous from the trade in slaves and other products of the African interior. It is culturally and religiously distinct from most of inland Kenya and traditionally Sunni Muslim, with an emphasis on Sufism. Lamu County is the planned site of one of the most ambitious economic initiatives attempted in Africa - the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport Corridor (LAPSSET), a $24.5 billion project creating a network of roads, rail-lines and pipelines connecting South Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya, with the additional construction of three resort cities and a modern port and refinery at Lamu.
The struggle for Lamu is not an unfortunate but obscure episode in the War on Terror however it is a battleground for the economic prosperity of East Africa.
In Lamu County, a historic center of Swahili culture, growing ethnic and religious tensions have proved to be fertile ground for the spread of a Kenyan offshoot of Somalia's al-Shabaab terrorist group. Life in parts of Kenya's traditionally Muslim coastal region has become a nightmare of beheadings and midnight raids by masked assailants, compounded by the ineptitude of local security forces. Link to original story on Jamestown website Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Jamestown Foundation, How Kenya's Failure to Contain an Islamist Insurgency is Threatening Regional Prosperity, 27 October 2017, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 20, available at:
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