Ngilu, Swazuri battle stalls much-needed change in the land sector

By ALLY JAMAH

Kenya: Land experts have warned that continued frosty relation between Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu and the National Land Commission (NLC) is undermining the crucial land reforms agenda.

The latest sign of the difficult relationship was on Tuesday this week when Ngilu demanded that the commission vacates from Ardhi House, the Ministry’s Headquarters. This assertion was furiously rejected by commission’s chairman Mohammed Swazuri, who said they are not going anywhere.

National Land Commission coordinator Odenda Lumumba asserted yesterday that land reforms are in jeopardy, partly due to the fact that the Ministry of Lands is not cooperating with the commission to discharge its mandate. He said political interference with the working of the commission was fuelling the conflict as the two institutions clash on their respective mandates in line with the Constitution and relevant land laws.

“There are some political interests that are still jittery about the full implementation of land reforms. This unwillingness comes in the form of non-cooperation and under funding of the commission,” he said.

He also suggested NLC has not been assertive enough to defend its constitutional mandate from interference and encroachment by the Ministry of Lands and the Executive.

Chairman of Land Development and Governance Institute Ibrahim Mwathane said issues of securing public land, and issuing title deeds have deteriorated in recent months as service delivery stalls due to poor working relationship between the ministry and the commission.

He said that if the two bodies don’t bury their differences and work harmoniously, land reforms will continue to suffer and Kenyans will be the worst losers. He explained that the bad working relationship between the two entities is giving unscrupulous individuals loopholes to continue their shady land deals, robbing the public and individuals of their legitimate land.

Closed doors

“The two institutions are supposed to complement each other but it appears that politics is what is behind the disharmony. They should both realise that they are serving Kenyans. They should resolve their differences behind closed doors not in the public domain,” he advised.

In October last year, Ngilu and Swazuri clashed in public over the executive powers of the commission with Ngilu claiming that the Swazuri’s outfit did not have the legal mandate to sign title deeds, insisting that the mandate was still within the jurisdiction of the Lands ministry.

The differences are so sharp that two committees of Parliament have threatened to eject Ngilu and Swazuri from office if they do not resolve their disputes. On Monday, House Lands Committee visited Ardhi House in attempt to reconcile Ngilu and Swazuri, but the effort hit a snag as both parties accused each other of usurping their constitutional mandate.

A recent report by the Land Development and Governance Institute identified the bad blood between Ngilu and Lands Commission as one of the urgent matters that needs to be resolved to put land reforms on track.