By Ferdinand Mwongela

“Land is always seen as a source of problems in Kenya — when it can instead be the tool we use to create wealth and opportunity for all Kenyans. The time has come to settle this issue, to end the discord and argument. For too long, we have talked about the land question — now we need to find the land answer.” This were the words of Uhuru Kenyatta (now president) during the launch of the Jubilee manifesto. 

The manifesto had quite a bit to say on matters of land and housing. Focus now shifts on whether they will implement these promises.

“Unlike others, our manifesto is not a dormant and lifeless  write-up destined for safe storage away from wananchi’s scrutiny. Rather, it is a living document whose evolution is set to benefit from the contribution of every Kenyan,” said Uhuru.

The coalition  acknowledged that many Kenyans lack access to decent housing.

In this regard, they said they aimed to guarantee all Kenyans a decent home by 2020, by introducing a range of measures to upgrade the slums around Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and other urban areas.

Another proposal was to supply affordable loans to those in the low-income cadre to enable them build their own homes.  

Among the pledges  by the coalition was that they would pursue a policy of waivers and graduated stamp duty fees for first-time homeowners, with special consideration for youth, women and persons with disability.

Jubilee also pledged to devolve responsibility for housing construction to the new counties, as well as require the counties to formulate five-yearly housing plan proposals that ensure enough new homes are built in their area with an audit follow up. “These will be funded by grants from the local CIF and National Housing Corporation,” reads the manifesto.

The question of informal settlements also popped up with pledges of continuing with the proposed slum clearance programmes, replacing them with decent housing.

Provision of micro-financing loans for new home construction to those in the low income segment, encouraging the establishment of local housing co-operative and savings unions for better access to credit and  pursuing a policy of lowering mortgage rates are some other solutions.

Land

“Millions of Kenyans, today, have no property to call their own, yet remarkably, only 20 per cent of Kenya’s land is privately owned. Public land is 13 per cent of the land in the country with 67 per cent being community land, which has been traditionally managed by local authorities, with communities who actually live on it having little benefit,” says the manifesto.

It points out the challenges as including lack of title deeds for private land and poor records of ownership, poor basic infrastructure and unclear land rights as well as community land being of “little or no commercial benefit for the individuals and communities that live on it.”

“By adjudicating  and issuing titles (title deeds) for community land, we will unlock its potential as a commercial asset in addition to providing communities a secure place to live,” reads the Jubilee manifesto.

According to the coalition, future prosperity  is dependent upon the transformation into a property owning and land-user rights democracy.

Some of the proposed solutions  include the establishment and reinforcement a mandatory national land title register and computerising and digitising the land registry and management system.

It is important to note that the talk about computerising of the operations of the Ministry of Lands has been going round for quite a while with little to show for it.

At the same time, the coalition promised to reform land control boards and abolish search fees, control development through local county zoning policies and introduce a system of planning gain so that developers contribute to county infrastructure funds as part of the planning permission process.

It also promises to repossess illegally occupied public land without compensation and “prosecute land grabbers, especially Government officials.”

On community land, Jubilee promised to immediately embark on adjudication and titling and give communities, rather than the National  Land Commission, the titles to community-held lands.

Other pledges include giving every Kenyan the right to lease a reasonable  holding of land in their community, provide funding to counties to complete the process of registering and unregistering community land and facilitate the resolution of property disputes over community land by creating special community land tribunals, working with traditional leaders.