Land commission chairman Dr Mohammed Swazuri (left) and Lands Cabinet secretary Ms Charity Ngilu. Photo/Salaton Njau
What you need to know:
Lands minister Charity Ngilu last week ordered the closure of the central national lands registry for 10 days to allow for reforms aimed at improving efficiency, but the National Land Commission officials termed the freeze illegal.
NLC is demanding an uncontrolled access to the central registry, Nairobi registry, the banking hall, Commission’s staff offices and the public to Ardhi House.
Attorney-General Githu Muigai have also been sued alongside the minister.
The National Land Commission has sued Lands minister Charity Ngilu for allegedly paralysing its operations through the temporary closure of key offices at the ministry.
The NLC however read mischief in Mrs Ngilu’s action and said it has prevented the commission from discharging its constitutional functions and that ‘strangers’ have taken over operations at Ardhi House.
“The petitioners fear that the strangers now handling the said records or registers may tamper with the said records by introducing extraneous documents and/or plucking them out an exercise which would gravely prejudice the petitioner’s operations,” NLC lawyer Waweru Gatonye said in an application before High Court Judge David Majanja.
The commission is demanding an uncontrolled access to the central registry, Nairobi registry, the banking hall, Commission’s staff offices and the public to Ardhi House.
Attorney-General Githu Muigai have also been sued alongside the minister.
“We need a temporary order be granted suspending the operations of the published public notices, agents of the sued parties be restrained from interfering with our rights based on grounds founded in the notices and an uncontrolled access to Ardhi House,” the commission stated in its application that was certified as urgent by High Court Judge David Majanja.
Justice Majanja asked the commission to serve Ms Ngilu, the Lands ministry and the Attorney General with the case documents and set the hearing date for Friday.
Mrs Ngilu and the NLC have been caught up in endless feuds over the management of the sensitive land matters with both sides claiming more superior roles.
The minister has publicly stated her action was meant to clear inefficiency that has widely been blamed for vices such as corruption in Lands ministry.
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Registration of land documents, searches, stamp duty payments, land rate payment and application for valuation and processing will be stalled for the entire period.
Other affected transactions include payment of allotments, application for subdivision of land, settlement programmes and land adjudication.
This will make it difficult to transact on land or use it as collateral for loans in a freeze that will hit commercial banks and property dealers.
Armed police officers have stood guard at the ministry headquarters since Monday, turning away dozens of people seeking services.
While the ministry handles the entire private land transactions, the NLC says it has the mandate to prepare and execute public leases before passing them on to chief registrar to sign and issue titles.
Mrs Ngilu maintains that NLC is an advisory body whose role is limited to providing recommendations to the ministry.
Last month, the NLC, chaired by Mohammed Swazuri, moved to the Supreme Court to seek interpretation of its role and that of the ministry following several such incidents in the past.
The commissioners had earlier sought the intervention of State Law Office but the Attorney General is said to have advised the two departments to share roles.
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