The National Land Commission’s (NLC) decision to publish regulations governing investigations into historical land injustices, though belated, marks a crucial step to resolving one of Kenya’s most intractable problems that has persisted since Independence.
The Investigation of Historical Land Injustices Regulations, 2017 contains detailed procedures for lodging claims, conducting investigations, holding hearings and deciding the cases between June 15, 1895 and August 27, 2010.
Not only will the NLC be required to initiate investigations into some of the well-documented cases of land grabbing, aggrieved members of the public will also have the opportunity to get the agency to act by registering claims.
Up to that point, we can only hope for the best for thousands of Kenyans who have experienced untold suffering at the hands of a ruthless and land hungry elite that has only deepened a crisis that began with colonisation in the 1890s.
The commission must, however, embark on this task knowing full well that past efforts to resolve historical land injustices have turned out to be a high-stakes game of musical chairs.
Taxpayers have funded efforts such as the Ndung’u Commission, the Waki Commission and the Akiwumi Commission that produced far-reaching recommendations, but nothing changed on the ground.
The travesty must end. We expect the NLC to use the new regulations to put all the historical land injustices to rest.
And its work is cut out. Historical land grievances stretch back to the colonial land administration days in 1895 when Kenya became part of the British East Africa Protectorate, which made “the unfair” treaties and agreements with local communities.
The list of disputes that have played out in recent times include Nyeri colonial villages, Kihiu-Mwiri in Murang’a, Mpeketoni in Lamu and Waitiki in Mombasa.
The 2010 Constitution had imagined a case where the NLC would start resolving these cases within two years of its establishment in 2013, but previous regimes have always found excuses to avoid this hard task.
We expect the NLC regulations to seize this new opportunity to fix our land question once and for all.
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