No end to bitter controversy over land legislations

By DANN OKOTH

Is it possible the country could end up with a defective, skewed and Executive-leaning National Land Policy against the letter and spirit of the Constitution?

This is likely to happen now that the processes leading to the formulation of the National Land Policy and National Land Commission have been mired in controversy and apathy as some key stakeholders missed out in the all-important exercise, with teams conducting the process being accused of doing a shoddy job.

Lands Minister James Orengo insists talks on the Bills have been fruitful [Photo/Standard]

And as teams charged with fine-tuning the proposed Land Bills ahead of tabling their final report before Parliament on April 17 get down to work, stakeholders have raised pertinent questions about the process as well as put forward recommendations on clauses they want included even as a new report pocked holes in the Bills.

Grassroots civil society organisations contend there was not enough civic education on the three Land Bills, which made it impossible for majority of poor Kenyans to actively and meaningfully participate in the process.

"We believe this was a breach of the Constitution, which clearly provides for the right to participate in the formulation and implementation of policies and laws," says Elizabeth Wanjiru from Nairobi Peoples settlement Network (NPSN).

The network is a member of a coalition of 10 community groups from various people’s settlements (read slums) which have petitioned the parliamentary committee on Land and natural resources on raft of issues they feel should be included in the Bills.

Concerns have been raised over the manner in which the committee led by Reverend Mutava Musyimi conducted public hearings on the Bills with stakeholders accusing the committee of ineptitude and complacency.

"In one of the public hearings, I was shocked that the committee arrived without copies of the bills and proceeded to tell the villagers to download them from the website," says a senior members of a civil society organisation whom cannot be named because he is still involved in the negotiations.

"How do you say that in a village with no electricity leave alone computers – it just shows the level of unpreparedness and casual manner in which the committee is handling the process," he says. In other places the committee barely spent 15 minutes, leaving the venue of the meeting even before all stakeholders arrived. "Such actions raise the question whether what the committee will present before parliament truly reflects the wishes of the public," he says.

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