A land lobby group has raised concern over delay in enactment of a law to determine the minimum and maximum size of private land in the country.
The Land Development & Governance Institute (LDGI) said that a last-minute request by Parliament and the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) to the ministry of Lands to fast-track the drafting of a bill to address the same may not be achieved.
Parliament and CIC recently tasked the acting Cabinet Secretary for Lands Fred Matiang'i to prepare and table a bill on the minimum and maximum size of private land as anticipated under Constitution and the Land Act 2012 to be enacted by August 27.
"First, it's like these two institutions 'slept on the job till now'. Why wait all these years then, in the last three months, suddenly try to oblige the CS on an impracticable timeline? Secondly, the two institutions appear oblivious to the realities of Kenya's land sector and the emotive and open ended nature of the debates it elicits on some matters; and this is one," LDGI chairman Ibrahim Mwathane said.
According to Mwathane, the timelines notwithstanding, they are delving into a bill that they cannot enact by the end of August due to the legal technicalities required and the sensitive nature of the matter.
The LDGI boss said the Constitution requires that, within one year of the coming into force of the Act, the Cabinet Secretary should commission a scientific study to determine the economic viability of minimum and maximum acreages in respect of private land for various land zones in the country.
"CIC and Parliament therefore needs to appreciate that the scientific study has not been done. In my view, the study should go hand in hand with public sensitisation so that Kenyans do not misconstrue the purpose," Mwathane said.
The philosophy of minimum and maximum size of private land is contained in Sessional Paper No 3 of 2009 on the national land policy and the agricultural policy currently undergoing stakeholder discussions.
It helps to stop the subdivision of high potential agricultural and pastoral land into economically non-viable units.
Once approved by Parliament, the Cabinet Secretary would prescribe the minimum and maximum land sizes in respect of private land for various parts of Kenya which would guide land registrars whenever instruments and dispositions on land are tabled for registration in the respective land registries.
