Ngilu- National Land Commission wars hit lenders

President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) with Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu and National Land Commission Chairman Muhammad Swazuri.

Developers and lending institutions have lost large sums of money because of the fight between the Lands ministry and the National Land Commission (NLC), says a new survey.

The survey, released last week by Land Development and Governance Institute, also singles out land professionals as another group of service seekers who have lost money over the last one-and-half years due to constant differences between the two institutions.

The land think-tank says that the gains made in the sector since the promulgation of the Constitution in August 2010, which ushered in the implementation of Kenya’s land reforms, have been overshadowed by the supremacy battle between NLC and its parent ministry.

The gains started in 2011 with the drafting and implementation of relevant laws such as the Environment and Land Court Act 2011; the Urban Areas and Cities Act 2011; the Land Act 2012; the Land Registration Act 2012; and the National Land Commission Act 2012.

This was followed by the putting in place of new institutions like the Environment and Land Courts and the NLC.

The other key sector gains, according to the report, include issuance of title deeds in parts of Coast region, establishment of a titling centre at the Survey Field Headquarters in Ruaraka, reorganisation of land records in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi land registries, computerisation of land records and commencement of the recovery of grabbed public land.

Gains

Others include preparation of the Community Land Bill, Evictions and Resettlement Bill and a new Physical Planning Bill, amendments to new land laws, and establishment of a legal framework on historical land injustices.

However, the fact that the two leading institutions —the Lands ministry and NLC — do not seem to get along has blighted the sector’s achievements record.

“The ministry and the NLC must note that the regular differences, public notices and counter-notices along with references of sectoral matters to courts of law for interpretation continue to cause public anxiety and erosion of confidence in their ability to provide reliable information and services to citizens and investors,” says the report.

“Their chequered journey through the last one and half years has presented service seekers, and in particular land professionals, developers and lending institutions, with difficult moments. In a number of cases, this category of service seekers has lost big sums of money for transactions delayed or aborted due to lack of clear institutional procedures or conflicting public information on the status of instruments, such as land leases, held in or registered through the ministry,” the report adds.

The institute has urged the two to try and bring an end to any real or perceived differences, cease the blame-game and focus on service delivery in the interest of the country. “Leadership at each of the two institutions must appreciate that with our current constitutional and legal framework, their success in addressing Kenya’s land sector needs will require that they work in complementarity to plan, estimate budgetary and staff requirements and implement programmes at national and county level,” it said.

On Tuesday last week, the Lands cabinet secretary appeared before Parliament to answer questions from MPs. Asked about her differences with the NLC Chairman Muhammad Swazuri, Ngilu said: “I don’t think there is any difference between me and the NLC chairman. The fact that we may not agree on certain ways of doing certain things does not mean we are fighting.”

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