Lands ministry set for major reshuffle

A major shake-up looms at the Lands Ministry as the National Lands Commission moves to vet officers to serve across the country.

The commission has placed an internal advert calling on all employees whose functions have been transferred to the commission to apply afresh before being subjected to vetting and appointed.

According to section 31 (2) of the NLC Act, ministry workers in departments which were transferred to the commission in March 2103 must undergo vetting.

“This financial year we received Sh1.6 billion which will partly be used to conduct the vetting which we were not able to do,” commission chairman Muhammad Swazuri told the Nation.

Staff are encouraged to apply for the recruitment that will close at the end of July and the shortlisted candidates made public in the newspapers.

The public will then be invited to submit information on the individuals to the commission secretariat at Ardhi House, the ministry headquarters in Nairobi.

Sources, however, indicated that the staff are being discouraged from applying for the jobs in the ongoing turf wars between the ministry and the commission.

There are also fears that the vetting could bring out the many cases of malpractice at the ministry when the public submits information on the officers. (READ: Reforms ‘to speed up land deals’)

UNSCRUPULOUS BROKERS

Lands officials have been accused of frustrating clients and colluding with unscrupulous brokers to grab people’s land.

“We are calling on all Kenyans to bring information that will help the commission vet the officers. The problem is that Kenyans wait until people are appointed to offer information, yet this is a great opportunity to clear our house,” NLC vice-chairperson Abigael Mukolwe said.