Editorials

EDITORIAL: Secure public land as a matter of urgency

land

KIAMBU INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS PROTEST ON JULY 25, 2017 OVER THE GRABBING OF THE INSTITUTE'S 200 ACRES OF LAND BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEE. PHOTO | ERIC WAINAINA | NMG

Public land where key installations are located is increasingly under siege by hungry grabbers looking to illegally take possession for private gain.

The latest case is that of Kiambu Institute of Science and Technology (Kist) land that has reportedly been mortgaged or targeted for disposal by ‘trustees’.

READ: Saga over grabbing of Kiambu college land takes new twist

This is not an isolated incident as military, school and parastatal land has been appropriated in similar circumstances. Earlier, we reported that the Kenya Revenue Authority is yet to secure title deeds to 20 pieces of land it owns.

A closer look into the issue does reveal that thousands of public institutions — ranging from Agricultural Development Corporation land, East African Portland Cement Company to Kenya Meat Commission — have become targets of hungry grabbers.

That is quite regrettable. The institutions at stake are key to development and stability of the country. We owe the future generations to preserve the land bequeathed to us by our forefathers.

Late last year in recognition of the depth of the problem, the National Land Commission (NLC) said it would issue more than 24,000 titles to public schools to protect them from grabbers.

At the point 4,000 plots had been grabbed. It is not quite clear how far the process has gone as the last time it was reported 1,733 titles had been issued while more than 10,000 schools had applied.  

Indeed, heads of institutions should get a time-frame for registering their land or face sanctions.

Given how difficult the process of titling is, it is important that the issue be dispensed with as fast as possible.

The government, through the land registrar and the NLC, should facilitate the transfer of all public land to the institutions. However, in cases like the one of Kist, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations should pay a lot of attention. The government cannot sit idle as economic saboteurs, both real and suspected, roam free.

Hopefully, authorities will heed this advice.