President Uhuru Kenyatta to reconcile Charity Ngilu, Mohammed Swazuri

Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu (right) and National Land Commission Chair Mohammed Swazuri.

By GEOFFREY MOSOKU

Kenya: President Uhuru Kenyatta will meet the National Land Commission and Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu over ongoing supremacy battles that have paralysed operations at Ardhi House.

This is the first time the Head of State is convening a meeting between the two groups following months of squabbles that have paralysed the processing of title deeds and leases.

At the centre of dispute is who between the officers of the ministry and the commission has the mandate to sign title deeds.

Uhuru’s chief of staff Joseph Kinyua said the President will meet the two antagonists immediately he arrives from London this week.

“Kinyua informed us that the President would like to meet us as soon as he returns to the country,” said NLC chairman Mohammed Swazuri.

Sunday, National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale said the row pitting Ngilu and Swazuri was affecting service delivery at the lands department, which may derail Jubilee’s promise to issue three million title deeds.

“It’s important that the Head of State directly intervenes to seek a solution in the endless wrangles. The President has accepted to meet the two groups and other players in the land sector,” said Duale.

National Assembly Departmental Committee on Lands vice chairman Moses ole Sakuda said since the committee failed to reconcile the two, it was important that the President had accepted to intervene.

“We are in agreement that these wars must end. As Parliament we have had meetings which have failed to bear fruit, so let the highest authority in the country take over,” said Sakuda.

The meeting comes a week after the Swazuri-led NLC moved to the Supreme Court to seek an advisory opinion on their mandate as an independent body in the new constitutional dispensation.

Lease renewals

Through Lawyer Tom Ojienda, the commission asked the court to address the questions emerging over land leases and renewals including management of private land in the country.

Yesterday, Swazuri said the meeting with President Kenyata will not in any way interfere with that case since there are other administration issues.

Over the weekend, the Land Development and Governance Institute chairman Ibrahim Mwathane said Parliament will need to address the imperfections in the new land laws to ensure they align with the Constitution with clarity which is not currently the case.

“I am appealing to the NLC and the Ministry of Lands to cease the recently witnessed public differences and work together for national development. The commission should appreciate that it does not operate in a jurisdictional vacuum since the Constitution requires it to manage public land on behalf of the national and county governments. It must, therefore, be seen to align its programmes to support the stated priorities at all times,” said Mwathane in Machakos.

In February, Ngilu ordered the commission to vacate Ardhi House and seek new offices at an alternative building arguing that like other independent commissions, NLC should be domiciled outside the headquarters of the parent ministry.

Transfer operations

However, Swazuri said he was not ready to leave Ardhi House arguing that any attempt to transfer the operations will disrupt the achievement of their mandate since most lands files are held at the ministry headquarters.

“There is no way we can vacate Ardhi House. That’s where all our files are and I would rather my officers share offices than vacate there,” said Swazuri.

And last month, Ngilu through the acting director of surveys Cesare Mbaria ordered all land surveyors not to give survey plans to the commission.