In response to President Ruto’s recent statements regarding plans to strip the National Land Commission (NLC) of its responsibilities related to land valuation and compulsory land acquisition, citing instances of biased land valuation influenced by bribery, Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwa has introduced an amendment bill in Parliament.
This bill aims to transfer these two critical functions from the NLC to the Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning.
The NLC, an independent entity established under Article 67 of the Kenyan constitution, currently holds authority over the compulsory acquisition of land for public purposes on behalf of both County and National governments, as stipulated in section 107 of the Land Act. Consequently, amending existing legislation will be necessary to facilitate the removal of these functions from the NLC’s purview.
The proposed Land Law (Amendment) Bill for 2023 outlines that if a County or National government intends to acquire land, they must submit a request to the Cabinet Secretary of Lands. The Cabinet Secretary is granted the authority to either compulsorily acquire the land or reject the acquisition proposal if it fails to meet the established criteria.
The bill specifies, “Whenever the national government or county government deems it necessary to acquire specific land, the respective Cabinet Secretary or County Executive Committee Member must submit a request for the compulsory acquisition of land to the Cabinet Secretary.” Furthermore, “The Cabinet Secretary is empowered to establish criteria and guidelines for compliance by public bodies seeking land acquisition.” The bill also states, “The Cabinet Secretary may reject a request from a public body seeking acquisition if it is determined that the request does not meet the prescribed requirements.”
Upon meeting the acquisition criteria, the affected land will undergo mapping and valuation according to the criteria outlined in the Land Act. The Cabinet Secretary will then ascertain that the acquiring body has identified the number of individuals in actual occupation of the land. Upon approval, the Cabinet Secretary will publish a notice in the gazette, specifying the purpose for which the land has been compulsorily acquired.
The Land Act’s sections 107 to 110 will also undergo amendments, replacing the term “Commission” with “Cabinet Secretary.” The NLC’s roles will be further reduced by the deletion of the entire section 112, to be replaced by a new clause.
This new clause proposes the establishment of a Land Compensation Inquiry Committee, which will assume the responsibility of hearing and determining appeals stemming from decisions made by the Cabinet Secretary in the compulsory land acquisition process.
