"THE GATEWAY TO PROSPERITY: A SECURITY RISK ASSESSMENT OF LAPSSET’S LAMU-GARISSA HIGHWAY"

The Lamu-Garissa road is the gateway to the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor, one of Africa’s most ambitious infrastructure project.  The road, now under construction, is already emerging as a game changer, expected to generate at least 3 percent of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), provide an easier and cost-effective means to transport people and transact in goods and services, create jobs, boost trade and investment, reduce poverty, spur urbanization and industrial growth, contribute to the overall security in the region, and change the socio-economic fortunes of counties along the LAPSSET corridor. Ethiopia has already earmarked the road as its gateway to the agricultural-rich Southern region.  Recent el-Nino-induced floods, the COVID-19 pandemic, reduced budget for the road project and tax hikes on vital construction materials have slowed down construction work. But it is the activities of armed groups and criminal gangs that have impeded the timely and cost-effective completion of the road expected to completed by early 2025. This security risk assessment undertaken by the Africa Policy Institute calls upon Kenya and its partners to invest in building trust and capacity of local communities, take measures to prevent the abduction of foreigners for ransom, combat corruption, enhance coordination and strengthen the capacity of law-enforcement forces and shield the project from great power competition.