Surveyors Reject Draft Land Team Bill

Peter Ngetich

28 June 2011

Nairobi — Surveyors have rejected a draft lands commission Bill due for presentation in Parliament citing serious flaws.

“The Bill is flawed and needs to be redrafted before its passage,” said the chairman of the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya (ISK), Mr Collins Kowuor.

He told reporters in Nairobi on Tuesday after receiving a copy of the draft for perusal before it was forwarded to Parliament that the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution and the Attorney General should reject it in its entirety.

Mr Kowuor said land was a very sensitive issue and should be treated with a lot of caution.

Avoid duplication

He said there should be a clear separation of roles between the National Land Commission and Ministry of Lands to avoid duplication.

The surveyors said they had indicated this in a memorandum at a national workshop on May 18, this year, noting that they were a pillar in formulating the sessional paper on land in the new Constitution.

Mr Kowuor said if the draft Bill were to be implemented in its present form, it would create a fertile ground for continued unproductive, inequitable and poor land administration and management.

“Everybody knows that land is a complex resource commodity that requires sound administration as stipulated by article 60 of the new Constitution,” said Mr Kowuor, who was accompanied by the ISK secretary Moses Kiambuthi and officials Godfrey Mutuma and Daniel Mugambi.

Stakeholders left out

He faulted the composition of the interviewing panel for members of the proposed land commission, saying it left out key stakeholders with interests in all aspects of the land issue.

“In addition, members nominated by the representative organisation should not be subjected to further appointment by the Cabinet secretary.”

The ISK chairman said that because of the enormous amount of work that the land commission would shoulder, members should be employed on a full-time basis to enable them to devote all their time and energy to issues related to their appointments.

According to the draft Bill, only two professionals would sit in the commission, which was unrealistic because the fewer the experts in the team, the less effective it would be in carrying out its mandate, Mr Kowuor said.

“These representatives have to be nominees of the relevant professional body in order to instil accountability, checks and responsibility.

“The only professional body whose core mandate is land and has the expertise in this area is the Institute of Surveyors of Kenya.”

The chairman said just as a doctor could not be appointed to sit on a board for lawyers, this should be the case with the new land commission.

Negotiated peace deal

“We are aware there are some people who argue that there should be no heavy representation of professionals dealing with land issues within the land commission. However, in order to meet the stipulations of the new Constitution, there is need to have persons with relevant expertise on land matters just like other sector,” Mr Kowuor said.

Mr Mutuma said the land issue had not been addressed in accordance with Agenda Four of the Kofi Annan negotiated peace deal, and this was reason enough for the Charles Nyachae-led CIC to reject the draft Bill.

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