Heavy Political clout

With the assumption to office of land economist Hon Esther Murugi and Hon Tiyah Galgalo, Kenya’s land commission hit its maximum number of nine. Hon Murugi is a former cabinet minister and Member of Parliament for Nyeri Town. Hon Galgalo was the Women Representative for Isiolo County. The appointment of the two had suffered setback following a court petition over process issues. They now join Hon Kazungu Kambi, a former cabinet minister and Member of Parliament for Kaloleni in Kilifi County, to give the Commission a heavy political clout.

Two other commissioners are land economists. The chair and vice chair pack competencies in law. There are also commissioners with competence in agriculture, research and social sciences, all essential to land governance. Unlike the first commission, the second team has no surveying and planning professionals. But these are available within the technical staff. With this diversity, this second commission is set to oversee the management of Kenya’s public land.

Unfortunately, the first land commission disappointed many. It performed below expectations. Consequently, Kenyans moved on and seemed not to even have noticed the transition at the Commission’s top level. This isn’t good for Commission business. A lot of its business calls for public participation, buy-in and support. So information gaps, or even skewed perceptions informed by the past, will undermine the implementation of Commission programmes.

2020-2025 Strategic Plan and Key Areas

For instance, not many people are aware that the Land Commission recently developed a strategic plan to guide public land management for the next five years. Yet this is a big deal. It needs high level publicity. Kenyans need to know what the second Commission plans to do for them. According to the plan, the management and administration of public land remains a major priority for the commission. The commission will also focus on dispute resolution and conflict management in order to reduce the time and cost it takes to resolve land disputes. Providing oversight to land use planning as required of the commission by the constitution and the Physical Planning and Land Use Act is also a key pillar in the commission’s 2020-2025 strategic plan. To mitigate its capacity and budgetary gaps, the commission will focus on institutional strengthening and enhancement of revenue generation from land and land based resources over the period.

The former cabinet ministers in the team, along with Prof James Tuitoek, a former University Vice Chancellor, have good experience implementing strategic plans. Indeed, the people skills in the politically exposed commissioners, and their high-level networks, should see the commission easily popularise its programmes and successfully lobby for the requisite budgetary support from parliament. This would perhaps mollify sector pundits who anxiously wait to understand the value the heavy political hand brings to this commission. The land experts in the team should be able to guide the implementation of technical components of the plan. But the overall success of the second commission will hang around public deliverables and a healthy relationship with key state and non-state stakeholders.

Dated: 19^th February, 2021