Rapidly changing city

I am back to Addis Ababa, post-Covid. The city, home to the African Union (AU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), is referred to as Africa’s political capital in continental banter. One can understand. Like Nairobi, it has been rapidly expanding, and its population exploded. Estimates place this at about 5.5 million currently. The construction boom remains on, with mega commercial spaces, high-rise buildings and skyscrapers interrupting the city horizon. Bole International Airport, now said to be the largest capacity airport in Africa, continues to expand. Kenya should take lessons.

Diverse regional issues

In an East African Community forum held in August last year in Uganda’s capital city of Kampala, Kenya reported to have started reviewing its 2009 national land policy. The forum had been organized by the EAC in partnership with the African Land Policy Center to provide EAC Partner States the opportunity to share lessons and best practices in land policy development, in keeping with the African Union Declaration on land. I provided technical support to the process and therefore had opportunity to appreciate the diversity of issues informing land policy review within the region.

"Shifting" riparian boundaries

Recent media reports highlighting remarks by the Chairman of the National Land Commission on the matter of receding ocean waters rekindled my concern on a lacuna that persists on this matter. During the recent Environment and Land Court Judges’ annual conference held in Naivasha, the Chairman was cited to have observed that some hoteliers have been approaching the Land Commission requesting to have their leases extended to include the land left behind by the receding Indian ocean. He further observed that at the Kenya coast, the ocean has reclaimed some villages and it is time the issue of riparian land was addressed to resolve the subject boundaries. This matter is moot, and calls for discussion and answers. However, I doubt that the courts can provide answers in the absence of some guiding policy and law.

Competing needs

Public land in Kenya currently stands at approximately 13% of our stock. This is small. Yet it is needed for a wide range of uses. A reasonable proportion of it is reserved for use by government institutions such as Ministries and their departments at national and county level. Some is committed to state agencies under the various ministries. Some public land is reserved for use by our legislative and judicial institutions.

Notably, public land reserved for institutions and agencies in the education, agriculture and health is quite vast. This includes land under Universities, Research and Technical Training Institutes, Secondary and Primary schools. In agriculture, a lot of land is under research institutions dedicated to crop and animal production, disease control and a raft of other specialized uses. Hospitals, health centers and Medical Training Institutes take up lots of land reserved for the health sector.

Coastlines strategic

A country’s coastline is arguably the most important and strategic piece of real estate. It’s the gateway to the sea and the opportunities therein. It’s also the entry into a country. Guarding and managing it well should be top priority. For Kenya, whose tourism sector contributes significantly to our gross domestic product, our coastline belt, which is home to pristine touristic properties, is priceless! The policy on its management must therefore be predictable and progressive. But I am no longer sure it is.

When ocean water level drops, more land is created along the shoreline. So whose land is this and can it be allocated? Conversely, when ocean water levels rise, as has been happening with gradual global warming, sea water begins to encroach upon the front row beach properties. So if it encroaches beyond the registered property boundaries, does this mean that those affected lose part of their land? Does it mean that a public institution like Kenya Wildlife Services, which manages National Marine Parks along the shoreline, can extend jurisdiction into the encroached sections of private land where marine life will have migrated? Where there is gross destruction of property by invading sea water, does the state have a mitigation policy? How do the property owners along the front row, who live this practical threat, protect their properties? What’s our policy and legal position on these issues?