Amending land commission law will restore hope for land injustice victims

A recent story by the Daily Nation revealed some humbling statistics on the historical land injustice claims made to the National Land Commission (NLC). Of the 3,743 cases received, 2,624 of them or 65 percent are from the Coast, with 2,024 of them coming from Kilifi County alone!

Speaking during a Land Injustices Dialogue Session in Garsen, Tana River County, NLC chairman Gershom Otachi indicated that the claims from Coast are comparatively weighty since they involve large communities, while those from other areas largely involve individuals, or much smaller groups. Good luck to the commission as it decides on these cases.

I have been watching spaces which are home to fragile land injustice claims by individuals and groups. Often, the resolve by the claimants is deep, cold and long-term. Any provocation, particularly by those prospecting for land, is met with hostility and force.

Despite the pressure on land in Kenya, such spaces should be avoided. I have always advised investors to keep off such land till the pertinent issues are resolved.

Once that’s done, then they may freely plough in capital for land or property. Such restraint is necessary where disputes, or confrontation over multiple claims to land are likely.

Hence the reason there is need for urgency in adjudicating over historical land injustice claims already received, and those pending, be they by individuals or communities.

Only then shall we have land tenure security in such zones. Certainty and security of tenure rights incentivises the property market, paves the way for long-term human settlement and provides an optimal environment for infrastructural development.

Unfortunately, the National Land Commission Act, which provides the framework for receiving and determining land injustice claims by the land commission, debarred some legitimate complainants. How so? Because the relevant clause provided for a timeline of five years, which ended in 2017.

From then, the commission’s hands were tied, and no further cases of historical land injustice claims could be received. Luckily, a proposed change to this law by Kilifi North MP Owen Baya, through the National Land Commission (Amendment) Bill 2023, seeks to open up this timeline and untie the hands of the commission.

The amendment also seeks to remove a clause which limited the powers of the land commission to review cases of irregularly and illegally allocated public land presented by individuals or communities.

The National Land Commission Act, which became operational in May 2012, provided that the land commission would only receive grants or dispositions of public land and determine their propriety or legality within five years. These powers therefore expired in May 2017. Only Parliament can reconsider and donate them back.

Perhaps stung by the numerous cases from his County, and the face of the injustices visited on his people, Hon Baya felt compelled to move these amendments. His case is noble and needs support.

Ibrahim Mwathane is a consultant on land governance: [email protected]