Land commission wants land bills recalled after ruling
What you need to know:
- Parliament currently has before it the Community Land Bill, Physical Planning Bill and the omnibus Land Laws (Amendment) Bill 2015 that seek to address historical land injustices, provision on maximum and minimum acreage, eviction and resettlement.
- The three pieces of the proposed legislation have been a major point of contention between the Executive and the National Land Commission.
The National Lands Commission (NLC) now wants the government to recall the proposed laws currently pending before Parliament and align them to the Supreme Court judgment of last week.
Commission chairman Mohammed Swazuri told Sunday Nation in an interview that the court had spoken out “loud and clear” on the constitutional safeguards in the land sector.
“The Supreme Court directed the Attorney General (Prof Githu Muigai) and the Kenya Law Reform Commission to immediately embark on aligning the land sector laws to the Constitution. The court emphasised co-operation and public participation throughout the ruling, which has been lacking in the formulation of the laws,” said Mr Swazuri.
THE BILLS
Parliament currently has before it the Community Land Bill, Physical Planning Bill and the omnibus Land Laws (Amendment) Bill 2015 that seek to address historical land injustices, provision on maximum and minimum acreage, eviction and resettlement.
The three pieces of the proposed legislation have been a major point of contention between the Executive — which supported them and the NLC that had been crying foul over some of the provisions that supposedly seek to take away its powers as well as the lack of public participation in formulating the Bills.
NLC in April 2014 sought the Supreme Court opinion on its functions and powers, on the one hand, and the functions and powers of the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development on the other hand.
The commission wanted the court to make a determination on land administration and management functions, land taxation and revenues, human resources and staff issues, and land registration and issuance of titles.
ASKED TO DETERMINE
In addition, the court had been asked to pronounce itself on who between NLC and the ministry the National Land Information Management System falls, transfer of assets from the ministry to the commission, which agency has the mandate to administer and manage dealings in private land and finally whether or not the ministry is obliged to transfer to the NLC the Land Settlement Fund; and if so, by what date.
“The ministry is required to involve the public when carrying out its functions,” the court said.
“The participation of the people is a constitutional safeguard, and a mechanism of accountability...”
