By JULIUS SIGEI jsigei@ke.nationmedia.com and PATRICK MAYOYO pmayoyo@ke.nationmedia.com ( email the author)
Posted Wednesday, February 6 2013 at 21:28
Posted Wednesday, February 6 2013 at 21:28
In Summary
- “Historical injustices and land issues have been of concern to Kenyans since independence and have been the principal issues on what every presidential campaign has been run since the re-introduction of multi-party democracy in 1992. These matters are at the heart of reforms in our society and economy as enshrined in the Constitution,” said a statement sent by Mr Eliud Owallo, the head of Mr Odinga’s campaign
- “The second element in this debate is the corruption, ineptitude in the management of land and the attendant primitive accumulation by dispossession which has seen few people own huge tracts with multiple layers of claims to it,” Mr Lumumba said.
Land is an emotive and sensitive issue, but that does not mean it has to be swept under the carpet, Kenya Land Alliance national co-ordinator Odenda Lumumba said on Wednesday.
Mr Lumumba said much of Kenya’s economy was land-based and was key in ending poverty, ensuring food security and tackling unemployment.
“The second element in this debate is the corruption, ineptitude in the management of land and the attendant primitive accumulation by dispossession which has seen few people own huge tracts with multiple layers of claims to it,” Mr Lumumba said.
He singled out Coast, Rift Valley, Central, Kisii, Nyanza and Kakamega, describing them as smoking zones of land issues which have never been addressed.
“A way should be found to say; yes, some have benefited excessively through inheritance and succession rights. How do we address it?”
Mr Ibrahim Mwathane of Land Development and Governance Institute said land was a socio-economic issue and a province of politicians.
“The only issue should be the slant with which the issue is being discussed,” he said.
Mr Mwathane said the Constitution and the various land laws were comprehensive enough.
“What we should be hearing from politicians is a commitment to ensure the functioning of the National Land Commission,” Mr Mwathane said.
He said what the politicians were currently engaging in were mere threats as no individual, even if he were the president, would do anything except through an institution.
“There is no way, for instance, in which private land can be seized unless by compensation as stipulated by law.”
Moi University lecturer and policy analyst Nyaga Kindiki told politicians to restrict land issues to their manifestos.
“The land policy is very clear. Politicians should not interfere with what the Constitution stipulates clearly,” said Prof Kindiki.
The Luhya council of elders criticised the Inspector-General of Police and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission over what it termed as attempts to gag Kenyans and the political class from discussing the emotive land issue.
The elders said the move by NCIC chairman Mzalendo Kibunjia and police boss David Kimaiyo was calculated to protect certain individuals in the presidential race.
And on Tuesday, Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s campaign also weighed in, saying that Kenyan voters will note that the issues that were being censored were “the two matters the Jubilee coalition was unable to address.”
“Historical injustices and land issues have been of concern to Kenyans since independence and have been the principal issues on what every presidential campaign has been run since the re-introduction of multi-party democracy in 1992. These matters are at the heart of reforms in our society and economy as enshrined in the Constitution,” said a statement sent by Mr Eliud Owallo, the head of Mr Odinga’s campaign.
The Cord presidential candidate has made land the centre of his campaign and last Wednesday he named his main rival in the presidential race, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, by name: “Recently, I spoke about returning grabbed land and today I am asking Uhuru to give up his land to the poor.”
The Cord leadership has, however, not produced evidence to support their claims of such ownership.
Mr Kenyatta, the Jubilee coalition candidate, has defended himself against the accusations, saying all he had was his by right as it was not stolen.
During the launch of his manifesto on Sunday, he promised to radically reform land ownership if he wins the March 4 elections, dedicating 10 of the 37 minutes he spoke to the matter.
But he avoided speaking directly about the large tracts of land his family owns, only suggesting that it was bought from British settlers after independence in clean commercial transactions.
Described by experts as a ticking time bomb, the land problem is most acute at the Coast, with government documents saying absentee landlords own 77,700 hectares, almost the size of Kwale.
The documents put the total number of registered squatters at the Coast at 128,900.
“The land issue at this point in time should not be used as a campaign tool by candidates, its effect has been seen before,” police chief Kimaiyo said on Monday.
On Monday, High Court judge David Majanja ordered President Kibaki to gazette the members of the National Land Commission within seven days.
The commission is headed by Dr Mohammed Swazuri. Its members are Dr Tomiik Konyimbi, Dr Rose Musyoka, Dr Samuel Tororei, Mr Silas Kinoti, Ms Abigael Mbagaya, Ms Muthoni Njogu, Mr Clement Lenanchuru and Mr Adan Khalif.
The civil society group sought to compel the president to gazette the names arguing that the delay had caused unnecessary panic and public anxiety among stakeholders interested on land issues.
The lobby argued that since then, the president had failed to perform his statutory duty and that the delay had caused loss of time needed to tackle land reforms and address injustices occasioned by previous land grabbing.
They accused the president of breaching the constitutional time limit allowing him to make the formal appointment adding that the continued delay is preventing the members from carrying out their mandate as outlined in the constitution.
Justice Majanja agreed with their submissions, ruling that the appointment of the chairperson and the commissioners is imperative and no cause had been shown why the president cannot implement it to give effect to provisions of Article 67 and 250 of the Constitution.
He ruled that failure to complete the appointment of the commissioners undermines the value of good governance since the body mandated to carry out land reforms remained in limbo for indeterminate period.
He said that all state officers including the president are required to abide by the law and dismissed arguments that the president was waiting for the establishment of County Land Management Boards before gazetting the commissioners.
He ruled that the argument was not tenable since the National Land Commission was a creation of the Constitution and cannot be equated to those created through legislation and that the Lands Act is clear in its provision that county land management boards does not in any way interfere with the commission.
Additional report by Erick Ngobilo
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