President asked to initiate process of resolving county border disputes

The Commission on Administrative Justice has recommended the placing of visible beacons to determine the actual boundaries of counties “as a matter of priority”.

Boundary disputes have created tension and turned violent in some cases, leading to loss of lives and property and displacement of people, the commission noted.

To safeguard sovereignty, the Constitution mandates the President to initiate the process of resolving the disputes, according to the commission.

“This should be achieved by assigning a task team to survey and place the beacons,” says a statement from the commission, also known as the Office of the Ombudsman.

It is signed by the chairman, Mr Otiende Amollo.

The disputes, according to Mr Amollo, are either controversies over the actual boundaries or allegations that certain boundaries are based on “historical injustices”.

The commission advises President Uhuru Kenyatta to “address the issues underlying the controversies and stem the occurrence of such incidents in future between other county governments”.

The disputes could not only undermine devolution but also threaten national security, Mr Amollo says.

The commission further recommends the establishment of an independent agency by Parliament (Senate and the National Assembly) to handle alteration of county borders.

The option, it argues, is allowed by the Constitution.

If the proposed “independent commission” resolves to have a boundary adjusted, the resolution must be passed by at least two-thirds of members of the National Assembly and the Senate, separately.

LAST RESORT

However, the measure should not be the first preference but the last resort, the commission says.

It also recommends that boundary disputes should be settled through negotiation, mediation and arbitration.

The Constitution, in the First Schedule, outlines the 47 counties that form the present county governments.

The creation of the counties was guided by the Districts and Provinces Act, 1992, which delineated boundaries of the then 46 districts and Nairobi City.

At least half of the county governments are involved in border disputes that are mostly fuelled by a desire to control mineral deposits and shared natural resources, as well as an urge to scale revenue targets higher.

On July 31, some Taita-Taveta county assembly members stormed Mackinon Town.

In an incident that almost turned ugly, Speaker Meshack Maghanga and Marungu representative Paul Waweru led other members to erect a border signpost at Mwembeni.

They claimed that Kwale County had extended the border into a Taita-Taveta’s territory within the town.

And in August, Tharaka-Nithi Governor Samwel Ragwa said he would present a petition to the National Assembly over the Meru National Park, which he claimed was in his county and not in Meru.

Leaders from Kajiado and Makueni have also been embroiled in a war of words over a piece of land off the railway line in Emali Town.

Makueni, Kajiado and Machakos counties have also been claiming ownership of the multibillion-shilling Konza City project.

Makueni and Taita-Taveta are also quarrelling over the ownership of some parts of Tsavo National Park.

RESTORE PRE-1992 BOUNDERIES

In Turkana County, leaders and residents want the boundaries that existed before 1992 restored.

Its neighbours, West Pokot and Baringo counties, were in April allowed to join a suit it filed against the National Government, which it accused of failing to end insecurity in the region.

In the case, which is yet to be determined, Turkana County residents and officials sought to have the pre-1992 borders restored, citing indiscriminate killings, theft of livestock and destruction of property.

They further asked the court to order the National Government to evict raiders from Baringo and West Pokot counties said to have occupied their county.

Isiolo and Meru counties have both laid claim to some facilities within their border.

The row is fuelled by the urge by the two to grow their revenue bases.

In western Kenya, Vihiga Governor Moses Akaranga has claimed that Maseno Town is in his county and not Kisumu.

The situation is under investigation by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission.

A similar dispute exists between Kisii and Nyamira, which are fighting over the location of Keroka Town and Mwabundusi scheme.

Mr Nzamba Kitonga, who led a team of experts that drafted the Constitution, says Parliament should set up a commission to handle the disputes.