Land Control Boards were established under the Land Control Act to regulate transactions in agricultural land. Sellers and purchasers of agricultural land have had mixed experiences with these organs. Some not good at all. They have their good side too. Many have prevented the secretive sale of matrimonial land by proprietors out to do so without the knowledge of their spouses in rural Kenya. The Boards also bear the duty of preventing the unwarranted fragmentation of agricultural land. However, in most parts of Kenya, they have not been effective enough on this.

Land Control Bill, 2023

Land Control Boards may now be abolished if a Bill introduced in the National Assembly by Hon Wilberforce Oundo, Member of Parliament for Funyula, sails through. Dr Oundo, a land economist and once a senior official of the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya, certainly knows why he seeks to have the Land Control Act repealed. His Bill, the Land Control Bill, 2023, is not new. He had introduced it in the 12^th Parliament, which adjourned sine die before the Bill could be processed. The Bill, now Gazette Supplement No. 124 of 28^th July 2023, is back as Bill No. 39 of the National Assembly. It matured on 10^th August 2023 and will now proceed to the other phases of consideration in keeping with procedure. The principal object of the Bill is to repeal and replace the Land Control Act and to align the law governing dealings in agricultural land with the provisions of the 2010 constitution, the Environment and Land Court Act under which disputes are determined, and the Land Registration Act, under which all titles to land in Kenya are registered nowadays.

Wide docket

Lands Cabinet Secretary Zachary Njeru is one of the relaxed and affable high office holders that one can find. Unfortunately, his vast Ministry, which is responsible for the vexing land issue, will leave him little wriggle room. Besides Lands, the Ministry comes loaded with the dockets of Public Works, Housing and Urban Development. Since he sits in Cabinet, he is responsible for the overall policy direction and coherence of the land sector, and the routine politics of land in the country. At the technical and operational level, the law obliges him to consult with the Land Commission.

A recent story on the Daily Nation broke the news that property owners in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu, Eldoret and Kiambu may have to dig deeper to pay for their land rates and rents following plans to review rates within these jurisdictions. The National Treasury was reported to have allocated extra funds to the Ministry of Lands for the purpose.

Nomenclature

The nomenclature of land rates and rents may look obvious to those within the realm of land administration and management. However, the two terms do cause confusion to proprietors, and, perhaps, affects anticipated compliance. Indeed, we have received quite a number of enquiries from proprietors who felt that they aren’t obliged to pay land rates since they hold properties under freehold tenure. Their understanding has been that land rates are only payable by those holding properties under leasehold tenure. This discussion helps to debunk this view.

Restructuring

Despite its efforts, the judiciary isn’t too good at showcasing its achievements. Perhaps owing to the austere nature of its business. For instance, there has been some major changes in the structure of the Environment and Land Court. Changes that will greatly impact the Court’s business! But not many Kenyans, other than practicing advocates, know. The court has now been restructured into two Divisions, one responsible for land matters, the other for environment and planning matters.

This Court was established following proposals contained in Kenya’s 2009 national land policy. The proposal was subsequently anchored in the 2010 constitution, and operationalized through the Environment and Land Court Act of 2011. The constitution obliged parliament to establish a court with the same status as the High Court to determine disputes relating to the environment, the use of and occupation of land, and titles to land. This Court, which currently has presence in several counties, has been in operation for just over ten years. In a recently released User Operation Manual on the newly established divisions, the Presiding Judge to the Court observes that during the Court’s ten-year anniversary celebrations, stakeholders indicated that an increasing number of cases brought before the court pertain to land, rather than environmental concerns.

"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.