NLC unveils Land Reform Agenda to streamline land sector
The National Land Commission (NLC) has unveiled a land reform agenda for the next one-year, 2021/2022 meant to streamline the land sector.
Speaking yesterday during a media breakfast meeting in Nairobi, the commission’s chairman, Gershom Otachi, said the agenda has been formulated after considering key issues affecting land governance.
“The agenda has been formulated after thorough consideration of key issues affecting land governance that has been marked with unique systematic failures and which fall under the ambit of the commission,” he said.
He said that they are currently actively working to repossess illegally acquired public land across the country and added this will ensure justice and that land is unitized for the purposes that it was set aside for.
Additionally, he noted that the careful analysis and discussions with relevant stakeholders have resulted into the blue print that captures the various land management and administration challenges, commonly referred to as ‘‘the land question’’.
On historical land injustice, the commission said that it has so far received 740 complaints and the deadline to submit such complaints expires on September 21.
The exercise to submit the claims started in October 2017 as per geographical spread of the cases, the top three regions are Rift Valley have submitted 360 claims, Central 114 claims and Coast 101 claims.
Wajir, Marsabit, Garissa and Turkana are yet to raise any claims while Isiolo County has submitted only one claim.
Otachi urged Kenyans and communities with any historical injustice claims to take advantage of the remaining period and raise their claims with NLC offices in their respective counties.
Further, Otachi said that they are in the process of operationalising the recently developed Alternative Justice System Policy (AJS) to solve standing land disputes out of court.
Through transitioning of undissolved groups, only five communities, mainly former group ranches have been registered.
Although 24 counties are mapped out as having community land, only 10 counties of Baringo, West Pokot, Tana River, Turkana, Isiolo, Wajir, Mandera, Garissa, Lamu and Marsabit have submitted inventories.
“As a country, we are yet to register a fresh community land because the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning is in the process of gazetting a comprehensive adjudication programme out of which registration of community land will proceed,’’ he said.
Further, he said that interference of legal procedures by cartels and unscrupulous land dealers has challenged good land governance and reform.
