Lands officials holding Kenya hostage

By Apollo Mboya

Kenya: It is difficult to remember a time when the delivery of services by a Government department did not dominate the headlines, but the case of Ministry of Lands and the National Land Commission (NLC) is in a league of its own.

The operations in the Lands Registries have ground to a halt due to turf wars between the Minister for Lands and the NLC.

The public has not be issued with Title Deeds nor has the leases been registered for months. The minister and the NLC have joined together to create a government shutdown in their respective dockets.

Apart from the enormous inconvenience occasioned to the public and potential investors, it is now estimated that the standoff is costing the country a whopping Sh16 billion in uncollected fees and levies for various transactions. In this scenario where a handful of state officers are holding the entire country at ransom, what do we do? Should the stalemate continue? Should the government inaction continue?

Should the public, continue to remain victims of the egoistic fight between the minister for Lands and the NLC?

Standards

Public administration is a vehicle and an instrument for the delivery of public goods, services and works. The responsibilities between various government agencies and departments, though constitutional, are artificial from a citizen’s perspective. The citizen sees the State and its public administration as one structure.

As a result, citizens expect the administration to provide services assigned to each of the public entities. In the current stalemate, the reality is that it does not matter to the public who is who, as long as they can transact in the Land Registries. In fact, it is about establishing an all-encompassing national public service that sets the standard of measurement for an integrated public administration in terms of structure, systems and personnel across levels.

As is required by Article 10 of the Constitution, the national values and principles of governance bind all State organs, State officers, public officers and all persons whenever any of them applies or interprets the Constitution; enacts, applies or interprets any law; or makes or implements public policy decisions.

Those in charge have acted contrary to the values and principles of public service which requires high standards of professional ethics; efficient, effective and economic use of resources; responsive, prompt, effective, impartial and equitable provision of services as outlined in Article 232 of the Constitution.

Pursuant to Article 75 of the Constitution, a State Officer must avoid conflict between personal interest and public or official duties and can also not compromise public or official interest in favour of personal interest. Those who contravene these tenets are not only subject to disciplinary procedures for the relevant office but can also be dismissed or otherwise removed from office.

Wrong precedent

Government exists for the interests of the governed, not for the governors. The minister and the NLC are effectively sabotaging an important public duty by refusing to put the necessary measures for the provision of services thereby holding the public and the country’s economy hostage. As this goes on, by a notice dated 24th June 2013 published by the County Governments of Kajiado and Kiambu, all land transaction in the said counties were stopped indefinitely.

These notices were not only unconstitutional since they deprive land owners of their constitutional right to ownership of the property and to the exercise of their rights thereon, but also sets a very bad precedent that will affect the economic well-being of the country.

The suspension of vital government services is a symptom of the dysfunctional Government, which is a consequence of disregard to the constitutional order and placing of personal interest above that of the country. Ordinary people feel that the government no longer reflects their interests but instead caters to those of a variety of shadowy elites.

What is peculiar about the current stalemate between the minister and the NLC is that we have a new constitution and relevant legislation elaborating how land is governed yet the public is being taken through a painful trauma by individuals who have acted irresponsibly and contrary to the law.

Confidence in the Ministry of Lands is falling precipitously. Even those who still want to believe in the ministry’s ability to do things right admit that it is fast becoming dysfunctional.

There may have been times since the promulgation of the Constitution 2010 when the people had less confidence in government to deliver services than now, but there have not been many. We can blame many people for the current situation but that is like treating the symptoms of an illness.  Treating the symptoms of an illness might bring some short-term relief, but it will not cure the problem. 

The only way to solve the problem of dysfunction in the lands sector is to identify the root cause of it and treat that. I submit that the root of that dysfunction in the sector can be found in those we have put in charge at the Ministry of Lands.

The writer is Secretary/CEO of the Law Society of Kenya

mboya@lsk.or.ke