House wants Kaimenyi to revoke hiring of land boards

A parliamentary committee has directed Jacob Kaimenyi, the Cabinet secretary for lands, to revoke gazette notices appointing new county control boards, signalling a prolonged transaction stalemate.

The National Assembly Lands Committee says Prof Kaimenyi breached laid-down guidelines when he published the notice. Land transaction cannot take place in counties without the boards.

The previous boards, which had been in place since 2009, were dissolved in late April following reports of widespread corruption.

Specific guidelines were to be used in constituting the new boards and county commissioners were to provide evidence regarding nomination of members.

Among the guidelines was a requirement for wide consultation, including public participation, as proof that selection and approval of the members was done in a competitive way.

“We want the CS to revoke the gazette notices because the appointment of board members did not comply with the set guidelines,” said the committee vice chair Moses ole Sakuda.

Lands secretary Peter Kahuho appeared before the committee Thursday to give a progress report on gazettement of on the land control boards.

READ: Land boards dissolution freezes property transfers since April

He said only six counties out have constituted their boards, which typically have a membership if between seven and 12 people chaired by district commissioners (DC) or district officers (DO).

Key among the roles of the boards is to approve buying, selling or sub-division of agricultural land in areas under their jurisdiction.

MPs complained that were not consulted during the appointment of the members, yet they are legally appointed representatives of the people.

The list presented by Mr Kahuho had some discrepancies with three counties listed as having two lands boards approved and gazetted by the Ministry.

“The rule is that each district has one board yet in the case of Nyeri County, a board has been gazetted in East Kieni and another on in West Kieni, which is utterly wrong,” said Mr Ole Sakuda.

Upon dissolution of the previous boards, Prof Kaimenyi had promised that the new ones would be in place within two weeks.

He issued stern warning that those fired from the boards were not eligible for reappointment.

The Ministry requested County Commissioners countrywide to initiate the appointment of new members through a public participatory and all-inclusive approach.

“Unfortunately, most of the responses failed to meet specific requirements as had been advised by the Ministry,” Mr Kahuho told the committee.

An explosive population growth and expansion of most towns seen Kenyans invest in real estate, pushing demand into agricultural land.

The sub-division of land must be approved by the board, meaning that disbandment has stalled the plans of thousands looking to buy land and build their houses. Sale deals have also been put on ice.