President Uhuru Kenyatta’s order on land fraudsters is timely

 

By Harold Ayodo

President Uhuru’s directive for a complete audit of land records to root out irregular transactions has sent shockwaves in the real estate industry.

Uhuru, who spoke last week in Pate Island, Lamu County, where he issued more than 2,000 title deeds to residents, put corrupt land officials on notice saying no one would be allowed to derail government efforts to address the emotive land problem.

The President assured Kenyans that the government was computerising all land records to improve efficiency. He disclosed that another three million title deeds would be issued to Kenyans in the next five years.

However, before the President dished out the much-publicised 60,000 title deeds across the Coast, governors of Kwale and Kilifi urged him to put on hold the move to guard against fraud and stem a new wave of land grabbing.

Opposition

Kwale governor Salim Mvurya argued that the planned issuance should be suspended until an audit of beneficiaries was done, adding that investigation had shown that many existing titles were issued to fictitious people.  Kilifi governor Amason Kingi claimed the announcement that the government would issue 60,000 titles was to pre-empt investigations into land injustices by the National Land Commission (NLC) in the Coast and fuel a new wave of land grabbing in Kilifi.

Even as Uhuru issued directives for a crackdown on illegal and irregular transfer of property, the recently passed Land Act  in line with the Constitution  delivers a blow to fraudulent investors who mainly grab public land.

According to Section 158 of the Land Act, any public property obtained through corruption is outright illegal. The corruption includes obtaining a building or land through a government official who may issue a certificate of ownership.

Land act

The Land Act further explains that such property transactions would be illegal from inception. The presidential directive would also target illegal transactions, which include that either party has been convicted of the fraudulent deal. Others are property transactions that result in interdiction or retirement of a government official in public interest on grounds of graft.

Majority of the cases may end up in court as they have powers to rule that a property transaction is fraudulent and revoke the deal. Moreover, anyone found in possession of public property obtained through corrupt transaction would be forced to forfeit it to the government without compensation.

According to the Land Act, a person found in possession of a property obtained through fraud shall be obliged to comply with the terms and conditions of the transaction. He or she will be liable to legal remedies applied to a person who has breached a valid sale agreement complete with penalties.

As reality of the new law sinks, the future may not be very bright for crude investors who make their daily bread from fraudulently acquired public property.

Reach

The presidential whip may extend to local authorities that may have illegally transferred public assets before county governments set in, ignoring warnings from Transition Authority chairman Kinuthia Wamwangi. At one time, Wamwangi announced that the authority would form a committee of technical experts to receive complaints of the illegal and fraudulent transfer of assets.

Two years ago, then Embakasi MP Ferdinand Waititu claimed the City Council of Nairobi was planning to sell seven properties to clear an alleged Sh13 billion debt.

He claimed the estates that were to be auctioned without following the right procedures were Jivanjee/Bachelors Quarters and Old Ngara. Others were New Ngara, Kariokor, Jamhuri, Buru Buru as well as Sunken Car Park at the heart of the Central Business District in Nairobi.

The government had put on hold transactions on some dealings in public property for three years as the state moved to secure them from fraudulent transfer.