Lamu titles scandal blamed on politicians

Political interference in land allocation led to irregularities in issuing Lamu title deeds, a former lands commissioner said on Friday.

Mr Zablon Mabea told the National Land Commission that many officials in the ministry processed documents following directives from ministers.

ORDERS GIVEN

He said laws governing land administration have been in place since 1951 but were sometimes ignored to suit certain interests.

Mr Mabea was the Lands commissioner when titles for most of the 22 companies in Lamu were issued. He said some orders to give the documents came even from the President’s office.

The minister for Lands at the time was Mr James Orengo, now Siaya Senator.

“Once the minister approved the allotment letters, the technical staff could not question the validity of the grants,” said Mr Mabea.

He was responding to questions from the commissioners during a public hearing that has been going on since President Uhuru Kenyatta directed that 500,000 acres allocated to private firms be investigated.

On Thursday, acting Lands Secretary Peter Kahuho said most of the firms that acquired land in Lamu between 2011 and 2012 contravened the law because they bypassed the land commission.

Mr Kahuho told the lands commission sitting in Nairobi that all the land transactions could only be done by the commission as was mandated by the Constitution.

IT WAS WRONG, TEAM TOLD

“After the promulgation of the Constitution in 2010, there was an embargo on land transactions until the lands commission was properly constituted. This is because it is the only agency charged with the management of public land on behalf of the national and county governments,” he said.

In a statement read on their behalf by Mr Abdulwahid Mohamed and Mr Munif Mohamed, the Lamu people said: “It is wrong for the government to target community-owned ranches in the investigation and even contemplate revoking the titles. We wonder where they want us to go if they take back the land.”