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a senior official of the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya, certainly knows why he seeks to have the Land Control Act repealed.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.

Land Control Committees and boundary disputes

The Bill proposes the establishment of Land Control Committees in each constituency to replace the current Land Control Boards. Among other things, the Bill proposes that these Committees develop dispute resolution mechanisms in order to be able to undertake evidence gathering and fact-finding on request by parties or the courts on matters relating to land and land use. The Bill improves on several features of the old law, including its membership and duties. Curiously, the Bill provides that one of the functions of the Land Control Committee will be to resolve any dispute over general boundaries within their jurisdiction. Yet, our Land Registration Act provides for the determination of disputes over general boundaries by land registrars. This provision will need to be revisited to avoid unnecessary conflict with existing legislation.

The Bill also seeks to preserve the repugnant provision that gives Land Control Boards powers to reject a transaction for the transfer of agricultural land to a person deemed to have sufficient agricultural land. First, this is hard to determine. In addition, the Land Act already provides a mechanism for guiding on minimum and maximum land holdings. This provision is therefore superfluous. Affected state and non-state institutions, and real estate practitioners, should make time to scrutinize and inform this Bill before it becomes law.

Dated: 28th September, 2023