Government moves to acquire land for Lapsset project

National Lands Commission (NLC) Chairman Dr Muhammad Swazuri. [Photo: Boniface Okendo, Standard]

The Government has started the process of acquiring a piece of land that had threatened to derail the multi-billion-shilling Lamu Port-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport project.

National Land Commission (NLC) Chairman Muhammad Swazuri has gazetted the intention to acquire the 100ha land at Mokowe in Lamu County that it had initially repossessed in 2011, only for the courts to return it to its owner - Nightshade Properties.

Nightshade had contested the land’s repossession, saying it had acquired it by way of allotment by the Government.

Justice Oscar Angote ruled that the revocation was unconstitutional and quashed the notice revoking Nightshade’s title. Nightshade’s title was revoked alongside three others. “An order be and is hereby issued directed to the registrar of titles, Mombasa, and the chief land registrar to immediately reinstate the records of the cancelled and revoked titles of LR No 28100 Mokowe Lamu, and delete any entry made on the petitioner’s certificate of title as a consequence to or in furtherance of the revocation notice appearing in Gazette notice No 15445 of December 7, 2011,” ruled Justice Angote at the time.

The land is among the close to half-a-million acres that the commission said last month it was targeting for the Lapsset project. 

“We will start the process of acquisition of land for all Lapsset projects next week by publishing a notice of intention to acquire,” said Dr Swazuri when NLC signed a memorandum of understanding that provides a framework for the acquisition of land for Lapsset projects.

New legislation

The land will cut across six counties in the north and northeastern regions. The commission said it would embark on the process of acquiring 197,200 hectares (487,000 acres) of land for the different projects along the corridor.

These will include transport infrastructure such as roads, railways, and a crude oil pipeline to be built on the 500-metre wide corridor across the different counties. Other projects will include special economic zones, resort cities, and airports.

The Lapsset Corridor, estimated to cost Sh2.5 trillion when complete, starts in Lamu and runs through Garissa, Isiolo, Laikipia, Marsabit, Moyale, and Turkana. It aims to open up northern Kenya while connecting the country to its northern neighbours of South Sudan and Ethiopia.

Swazuri in the Gazette last Friday invited any interested parties to speak out on the intended sale of the land by Nightshade.

He said plans for the land may be inspected during office hours at Ardhi House in Nairobi, setting the stage for acquisition of the land.

Land acquisition for mega infrastructure projects has been a thorn in the Government’s flesh, often derailing projects such as the construction of a Sh15 billion wind power project in Kinangop, Nyandarua County.

The Government is seeking new legislation to block the courts from giving orders to halt multi-billion-shilling Government infrastructural projects because of land compensation disputes.

The proposed law instead vests the power to make decisions on land compensation on a proposed land acquisition tribunal, which will hear and determine appeals on matters relating to compulsory acquisition of land.