28March2024

LAND REFORMS IN KENYA AND AROUND AFRICA

This blog focuses on issues of land reforms in Kenya and around Africa and related matters

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Mwathane

Mr Ibrahim Mwathane is a consultant in Surveying and Land Information Management and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Surveying and Photogrammetry from the University of Nairobi and a Masters degree in Cadastre and Land Information Management from the Polytechnic of East London.
 
Mr Mwathane has had extensive experience in the public sector where he served for 13 years as a field surveyor, quality control officer and a district and provincial office manager. While in the private sector, Mr Mwathane has been involved in consultancy work in surveying and land reform. He has provided advocacy and technical support to Kenya’s land policy formulation process and the continental land policy process.
 
Mr Mwathane has also served as the Chairman of the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya (ISK). During his tenure, he introduced ISK to national advocacy on matters relating to land reforms and contemporary land issues in the country.
He is the immediate past chair of the KEPSA Land Sector Board, a Director with the Land Development and Governance Institute(see www.ldgi.co.ke/www.ldgi.org) and the Principal Consultant of Landscape Land Surveyors & Consultants, Nairobi, Kenya.
 
Mr Mwathane has been twice decorated with Head of State Commendation awards, first in the year 2005 for introducing reforms that greatly influenced the development of the surveying profession in Kenya then in the year 2009 for his efforts to improve service delivery in the land sector in Kenya and in helping in the formulation of the national land policy.

The second team of commissioners to the land commission are just over two years in office now. They were sworn in by former Chief Justice David Maraga in November 2019. But not many can name its chair, vice-chair and commissioners. But by its first year, many in the land sector would have named most members of the first commission, whose tenure expired in February 2019. It had assumed office in February 2013. Why? Because the engagement styles of the two teams of commissioners are notably different.

New commissioners focused on results

The first commission engaged abrasively, and publicly. Graphic details of its internal squabbles, and those with the Lands Ministry and the rest of the government, went public. I remember once quipping that the media must have retained an office next door. The style strained relations with some key partners, undermined production and tainted the commission’s image. As it handed over office, the first land commission was publicly shamed, with some of its commissioners and officers having been charged in court for diverse reasons. Being the inaugural commission, this was not good history, much as the sister Lands Ministry may have been guilty for not dutifully nurturing its first constitutional baby.

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Debate on accreditation

The debate on the accreditation of professional courses was rekindled recently. This followed remarks allegedly made by the Registrar of the Engineers Registration Board of Kenya during a meeting with the Committee on Education and Research of the National Assembly. Impression was made that several engineering courses currently offered by some local universities have not been accredited and, therefore, enlisted students may not be registrable for professional practice on graduation. There’s been previous related discussion on other professional courses. The divergence isn’t good for Kenya.

Industry gives good feedback

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Market hype after 2013 launch

When the then President Mwai Kibaki launched the Konza Technology City in January 2013, real estate investors trooped in there. Local brokers were even faster in pitching at the nearby Malili market center to cash in on the anticipated land market. Perhaps all were then unaware about the details and pathway to establishing such an intricate private public partnership venture. Speculative land purchases don’t quite apply.

Need for support infrastructure

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The land register

Jurisdictions keen on managing land efficiently maintain a land register. This is a record of people who own land, and their respective land parcels. The details include the type of interest held, and the term of years, if leasehold. Liabilities such as a mortgages or charges to any institution, any other beneficial interests, or even burdens carried by a title, are noted on the register. For optimal use and best effects, the information on a register should be current.

In most countries, land registers are held and maintained in land registries held at the national and/or local level. The information held in land registers is of great use to land professionals such as surveyors, planners, valuers, conveyancing lawyers and real estate practitioners. It supports utility companies responsible for water, oil, power, road, rail, internet and aviation infrastructure. It’s also of interest to courts, banks and tax management agencies. Citizens resort to the register when transacting on land or property. All these users can only get to know the lawful owner, the interests enjoyed and the liabilities against any land parcel by looking at or getting a copy of the information on the register. In Kenya, this procedure is referred to as obtaining an official search, or getting a land title search. It is done in the registry within which a land parcel is registered.

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High demand for public land

With our increasing population and expanding public needs, public land remains in great demand. Therefore, the push to recover land that had been arrogated to individuals and other juridical entities must be intensified. This is a tough and long-term undertaking. And the pace changes with circumstances, competence and the determination of the state drivers involved. When all chips are up and there’s synergy between them, a lot can be achieved. The public agencies that suffered land grabs, the national land commission, the investigation and prosecution organs along with the courts must however beware that Kenyans continue to look up top them for results. And given its constitutional mandate, the land commission should provide proactive leadership in recovery and protective interventions.

Grabbing of ADC ranches averted

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