By Lucianne Limo
Kenya: The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission report reveals that land injustices played a critical role in fuelling ethnic violence.
The commission headed by Bethuel Kiplagat noted land-related injustices were prominent factors that precipitated violence between and within ethnic tribes.
The commission noted close to 50 per cent of statements and memorandum received from the public related to or touched on claims over land.
The commission has recommended that the National Land Commission (NLC) expedite the recovering all irregularly and illegally acquired land.
“Measures should also be designed by the Ministry of Lands and settlement to encourage individuals and entities to surrender illegally acquired land,” added the report
The commission further recommends the Ministry of Land and the NLC, design and implement measures to revoke illegally obtained titles and restore public easements.
The commission in its final report cited some of land injustices Kenyans face as illegal alienation and acquisition of individual and community land by public and private entities and illegal alienation of public land and trust lands.
Others include preferential treatment of members of specific ethnic groups in settlement schemes at the expense of the most deserving landless, forceful settlement of members of a community outside of their homelands, forceful evictions and the phenomenon of land grabbing, especially by government officials.
The commission finds that although land-related injustices have affected virtually every part of Kenya, communities at the Coast, especially the Mijikenda, Taita and Pokomo have suffered the most.
The commission accused Provincial Administration of playing a central role in perpetuating land-related injustices, including forceful evictions of individuals and communities and land grabbing for personal gain.
The commission recommended that Provincial administrators should not at all participate in any efforts to redress land-related problems in the new constitutional dispensation.
Remaining pieces
The commission noted that all post-independence governments have failed to honestly and adequately address land-related injustices that started with colonialism.
The commission recommended that Lands Ministry to immediately begin a process of surveying, demarcating and registering all remaining government lands, including those that were formerly owned or managed by local authorities, all protected wildlife areas and riverbanks, among other public lands.
The commission recommends that NLC develops, maintains and regularly updates a computerised inventory of all lands in Kenya, including private land that should be accessible to all Kenyans as required by law.
“Land registries country wide should be computerised and made easily accessible as required by the law,” said the commission.
The commission also recommended that NLC formulates and implements strict guidelines in terms of maximum acreage an individual or company can buy hold in respect of private land.
