Kenyans have endured long waits of up to over 25 years to get land issues, including the issuance of title deeds and completed land transfers, resolved.
This is according to a report by the Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ), commonly referred to as the Ombudsman, on complaints it received from Kenyans regarding land administration in the country.
The Ombudsman revealed that the Ministry of Lands accounted for the second-highest number of complaints, representing seven per cent of all complaints it received.
"Many citizens have reported long wait times for essential services such as the issuance of title deeds," the Ombudsman said in part.
Since 2019, the Commission has received 392 complaints against the State Department for Lands and Physical Planning, of which 186 have been resolved while 206 were pending.
According to the Commission, the biggest challenge in the ministry is the issue of delay, where some cases involving title deeds and land transfers have been delayed for three to four years.
However, there are extreme cases where 119 cases dragged on for 4–15 years; eight have been delayed for up to 25 years, while two have remained unresolved for over 25 years.
The Commission revealed that officials from the department are unresponsive to land cases lodged by Kenyans. Most of the land complaints are left unattended due to the lack of communication.
Further, the ministry has been inefficient, limited access to information for Kenyans, and is unjust to Kenyans. The ministry was exposed of unlawful conduct, unfair treatment, misuse of power, and graft.
Delays in land matters are not new to the ministry. Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome has repeatedly acknowledged the challenges in the sector but assured that the ministry is working diligently to address them.
Wahome promised that the ministry plan to process and issue at least 420,000 title deeds in the period between 2024 and 2025.
Title deed issues are just the tip of the iceberg on the matters that are ailing the ministry. Cases of land grabbing, double allocation, and the issue of squatters are still a challenge to the Wahome-led sector.
While the ministry has taken several measures like digitalisation of land matters, the establishment of a Land Information Management System (LIMS), public engagements, staff reforms, and policy changes, the challenges still remain an ongoing issue.
And now, the Ombudsman has ordered the ministry, particularly the Principal Secretary for Lands Nixon Korir, to solve pending complaints within 60 days, failing which he will be declared unfit to hold public office.
"The Principal Secretary should process and resolve all the pending complaints within 60 days and provide a compliance report to the Commission on the same, failure to which the Commission shall give the office holder notice to show cause as to why he should not be declared unfit to hold public office," read the Commission's statement in parts.
