Seize assets of the corrupt to curb land grabbing

The topic of land grabbing has quite well earned a position at the helm of Media recently. No Land owner is certainly safe even with their titles at hand, which is a prima facie evidence to land ownership as envisaged by the law.

Land grabbing has known no boundaries; from public land, private and customary or group ranches. Which begs the question, what is it that can be done to eradicate the prospects of this phenomenon?

Well, I'll take you through it and underline the various ways to curb this menace. The National Land Commission has been tasked to manage and administer public land on behalf of national and county governments.

This is provided under the Land Act, 2012 Section 8 and the Commissions' functions and powers under the National Commission Act Section 5(1) (a), Section 5(2). Going by statistics only 35% of public land has been identified and registered leaving a massive 65% undocumented.

This has left such areas or lands vulnerable and left to unscrupulous land grabbing mafia. Therefore, going by this fact, the National Land Commission should do more, employ more resources and document all public land in the country.

This will go a long way to clearly identify possible areas of land grabs. There has been an ongoing initiative to document and give titles to public schools in the country under the Shule Yangu umbrella. Nevertheless, this activity was prompted by Langata primary school field grab and not from the workmanship of the National Land Commission.

The Land Registration Act and the Land Acts of 2012 clearly disengages and deems a title not obtained procedurally as void. This includes title obtained as a result of land grabs. Therefore the government through the Ministry of Lands should revoke any title not obtained procedurally and any person found holding an illegal title should be brought to book.

The Land Registration Act, 2012 Section 26 subsection (1) clearly states: "The certificate of title issued by the Registrar upon registration, or to a purchaser of land upon a transfer or transmission by the proprietor shall be taken by all courts as prima facie evidence that the person named as the proprietor of the land is the absolute and indefeasible owner, subject to encumbrances, easements, restrictions and conditions contained or endorsed in the certificate, and the title of that proprietor shall not be subject to challenge except:- a) on the ground of fraud or misrepresentation to which the person is proved to be party; or b) where the certificate of title has been acquired illegally, not procedurally or through a corrupt scheme." Therefore, this Act of parliament does not recognize titles as indicated or given under Section 26(1) (b).

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) recently released a National Ethics and Corruption Survey, 2015 Report ranking the Ministry of Lands as the third most corrupt ministry at a rate of 11.3%. It reads "The Ministry of Interior and Coordination (40.4%) is perceived to be most prone to corruption followed by Health (14.3%) and Lands (11.3%)." Corruption facilitates Land grabbing in every aspect. Bribery levels at public offices according to the report are adjudged to 23.0% as perceived by the respondents.

The folks at the Ministry of land fuel this menace by their thirst for money or other loyalties. This is a hindrance to transparent and cost-effective administration of land as a guiding principle. These corrupt individuals should be stripped of their roles at the ministry, charged and their assets seized. This could go a long way in curbing the phenomenal land grabbing menace. Lastly, more defined efforts should be employed by both the National Land Commission and the Ministry to guard and administer public land within the country well.