Charity Ngilu not fit for job, says NLC boss

By STEVE MKAWALE

Kenya: The National Land Commission (NLC) Chairman Mohammed Swazuri kept up his onslaught against Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu.

Dr Swazuri said Mrs Ngilu did not deserve her appointment to the docket claiming the Lands ministry requires a technocrat to achieve reforms. Swazuri said lack of resources and political goodwill was to blame for slow reforms in the sector.

Expensive undertaking

“Funding has been a challenge since inception. We were allocated Sh130million when we began work between February to June.  We got another Sh206 million, which was not enough.  The Sh490 million we received in the current financial year is also not enough to fund the expensive undertaking of cleaning up the land register and taking over our constitutional mandate from the ministry,” said Swazuri.

He said out of the Sh68 billion allocated to the Agriculture and Lands sector, his department only got Sh490 million while the ministry of Agriculture took Sh38 billion.

Swazuri further blamed strained relations between the Ministry of Lands and the commission for the slow pace of reforms in the sector, saying the friction was as result of interpretation of the law.

Morning show

Speaking on KTN’s Morning Express Show, the chairman faulted the appointment of a politician to head the Ministry of Lands saying the docket required a technocrat or a person with a background in land matters.

“Land matters are emotive and because of the political background on issues touching on land in the country, we need to have the leadership from the top to be people with a background in land matters or technocrats,” he said.

The commission had been at loggerheads with officials from the Ministry of Lands over roles and functions with the Lands cabinet secretary.

Ngilu and Swazuri differed when they appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture last October over who is mandated to issue title deeds.

Land expert Mwenda Makathimo who was also present during the discussion on the show, blamed the parliamentary oversight committee on lands for failing to give directionsin terms of legislation.