In September 2014, despite local opposition to the coal-fired power plant, the Kenyan government granted the Amu Power Company (APC) development rights (a deal of about $2 billion). APC is a consortium of Centum Investments Company Limited (a Kenyan private equity firm), Gulf Energy (a Kenyan energy production company) and Sichuan Electric Power Design and Consulting Company Limited (SEDC), a subsidiary of Power Construction Corporation of China (Power China). In mid-2017, a 25-year power purchase contract between the Lamu coal-fired power plant and investor Amu power in China was certified by the President of Kenya with a guarantee from the African Development Bank, even though it is a private investment. “The president`s presence at the signing was probably organized by the promoters of the project to strengthen his support,” said David Ndii (2017), a columnist for Kenya`s Daily Nation newspaper. However, construction has been halted several times due to opposition from conservationists and human rights groups, as it will lead to air pollution, the destruction of mangroves and breeding sites for endangered species of turtles, fish and other marine species. The recent suspension of the project is a decision taken in 2018 by a Kenyan court that referred the case to the National Environment Tribunal. At one point, en route to the hotel, Captain Bakari, as a tourist, proposed a few things on the island, but he explained who I was, he quickly recommended things I had to do as a student and as a Nairobi student in London. My position and different personalities were the second things I had to deal with, because I had a young woman, a marginal, a student from the United Kingdom, a Kenyan, a Maasai, all these personalities in one way or another, I influenced the different relationships on many occasions. I started to evolve. My identity as a Maasai woman on the island becomes, in most cases, the entry point for long honest conversations.

However, most of the reactions were related to my answer to questions like “What part of Kenya are you off?” Is this your first time in Lamu? or “How long are you going to be here?” Although these issues were very common during my first week on the island, I must admit that I am now beginning to feel part of society. I have been invited to participate, among other things, in youth activities such as the Youth Dialogue Forum and the conversation about the artistic breath. Thanks to these interviews, I was able to make contacts with different artists/artisans and craftsmen of the island. In addition, I was able to expand my research contacts mainly thanks to the recommendations of the different people I meet in different social spaces such as restaurants, museums, craft studios and creative rooms for young people. Fig. 3: Fishmongers leave the beach on the wrong day with empty buckets.