This is one bottleneck whose impact is being felt in key sectors such as real estate and banking where use of titles to secure credit has effectively been blocked.
The minister was apparently unaware of the blockade until this newspaper asked him about the issue.
Ministry officials, who seem to operate independently of official directives, must be identified and weeded out.
Judging from the critical role that land plays in the Kenyan economy, the confusion at the Ministry of Land over the renewal of leases must be quickly brought to an end.
This is one bottleneck whose impact is being felt in key sectors such as real estate and banking where use of titles to secure credit has effectively been blocked.
Land is the most widely used collateral for loans in Kenya and any uncertainty around it grossly affects financial transactions.
There are also others like surveyors, lawyers, valuers, architects and engineers, who earn a living directly from transacting land or developing infrastructure that directly sit on land.
That means stopping transactions adversely affects probably thousands of people and those that depend on them.
It is discomforting that the paralysis has persisted despite Land secretary Jacob Kaimenyi’s insistence that the moratorium that was imposed on renewals last December has been lifted for all categories of transactions.
The minister was apparently unaware of the blockade until this newspaper asked him about the issue.
Whereas he put out a gazette notice lifting the moratorium some time back, stakeholders say the notice did not cover certain categories of leases rendering Land officials unable to act.
The Institution of Surveyors of Kenya says the reality on the ground is that ministry officials only recognise the lifting of the ban on extension of leases and renewal of existing ones.
That the notice did not cover leases for subdivided parcels, which account for nearly half of the leasehold land transactions and about 40 per cent of the Sh12 billion collected from land-related dealings annually.
This reality demands that the minister takes the necessary steps to immediately resolve the problem. Simply denying it or feigning ignorance won’t do.
Ministry officials, who seem to operate independently of official directives, must be identified and weeded out.
The bottom line is that the ministry officials must never lose sight of the importance of the resource for which they are responsible and the great need to handle matters relating to it with utmost care and sensitivity. They must recognise that the bulk of economic activities in Kenya centres on land.
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