CIC convenes meeting on land Bill changes

By Gakuu Mathenge

A crucial round table meeting will be held this week to fine tune amendments to the National Land Commission Bill before it goes to the Cabinet.

Commission for Implementation of the Constitution has approved the Bill with amendments proposed by stakeholders two weeks ago at a meeting at the Kenya School of Law, Nairobi.

Sources told The Standard On Sunday that Lands PS Dorothy Ang’ote is among those invited by CIC to the Tuesday meeting to review and sign off the Bill before it is submitted to the Cabinet. Others invited to the round table include civil society, the public, the Attorney General and the Kenya Law Reform Commission (KLRC).

The Bill is the latest frontline for forces pushing for land reforms and those opposed to changes in management, ownership, access and control of land resources in line with the new Constitution.

All past inquiries into land issues, among them the Njonjo and Ndung’u Reports, and Sessional Paper No 3 of 2009, have proposed an independent agency to divorce land management from Ardhi House.

However, stakeholders have faulted the Bill drafted by a private consultant hired by Ardhi House for allegedly creating a weak Land commission incapable of executing its mandate as envisaged in the Constitution and the National Land Policy.

The Bill, as currently drafted, sets out an advisory outfit, as opposed to an executive one, giving rise to speculation Ardhi House mandarins sought to preserve themselves and their powers.

The Tuesday meeting comes barely two weeks after stakeholders attending a forum convened by the CIC urged the CIC to resist attempts by Lands Minister James Orengo to withdraw Bill submitted to the AG on May 30, purportedly to facilitate consultation. On July 12, the minister wrote to the AG seeking to withdraw the Bill to allow for what he termed as “wider and exhaustive” consultation.

“The resolution to improve the Bill without withdrawing it was arrived at after stakeholders felt there was no guarantee or assurance Ardhi House would not delay with the Bill to maintain status quo. Overhaul of the institutional framework driven by the Lands ministry is part of Kenya’s reform proposals. The ministry cannot, therefore, be expected to overhaul itself without an independent National Lands Commission,” said Land Development and Governance Institute (LDGI) director Ibrahim Mwathane.

The spasms and birth pangs for the National Land Commission became apparent last week when Ardhi House snubbed a meeting between CIC and stakeholders at the Kenya School of Law.

Assume powers

The Lands commission is expected to assume the powers currently vested in the presidency and the Commissioner of Lands.

Other ministries and departments with stakes in reforms in the land sector — Local Authority, Environment, Forestry, Agriculture and Water were represented at last week’s CIC forum.

A source at the CIC said establishment of the independent commission is a key goal for CIC so that it (NLC) assumes leadership in the implementation of other land reforms, some which may take as long as five years.

Amendments proposed to the NLC Bill include in a recent press advert by Land Sector Non State Actors (LSNSA) lobby are diverse.

Article 67 of the Constitution envisages a powerful operation and service delivery NLC, as opposed to an “advisory” commission.

The Bill makes it an offence for NLC officers to disclose information on land without written authority of the chairman.

The lobby cautions current office holders could use this clause to evade accountability.

“They could evade accountability around probity questions concerning recovery of grabbed public land, resettlement of persons, and conversion of foreign owned 999-year leasehold title deeds, which have clear guidelines in the Constitution and the policy documents. This clause should not be used to shield officers from accountability in any manner,” it says.

The Bill also lacks commencement date, leaving it ambiguous as to when the National Land Commission takes effect, and Ardhi House hands over management and administrative functions.

LSNSA cautions this ambivalence could be used to extend status quo.