A new Bill was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, February 1, seeking to tighten measures required by stakeholders in purchasing and selling public land in Kenya.
Sponsored by Ruiru Member of Parliament Simon King'ara, the bill seeks to introduce stringent measures for National and County governments when selling public land.
If passed, the sponsor believes that the Land Amendment Bill 2022 will significantly reduce cases of land-grabbing which has affected the public sector for decades.
“Whenever the National or County Government is satisfied that it may be necessary to allocate the whole or part of a specific public land, the Cabinet Secretary or the County Executive Committee member responsible for matters relating to land shall submit a request to the National Land Commission (NLC),” the Bill states in part.
Further, the law will require that the land be sold through public auction and sold to the highest bidder.
To eliminate land fraud, the land cannot be sold for less than the reserved price which will be determined by the prevailing market value.
The National and County Governments have been given a list of parcels of land that cannot be allocated.
It will be illegal to sell or allocate public land that is subject to erosion, floods, earth slips, or waterlogging.
Other lands that are banned from being sold include; public land that falls within the forest and wildlife reserves, mangroves, and wetlands or falls within the buffer zones of such reserves or within environmentally sensitive areas.
The National Land Commission will further outlaw the selling of public land that is along watersheds, rivers and stream catchments, public water reservoirs, lakes, beaches, fish landing areas, riparian as well as public land that has been reserved for security, education, research, and other strategic public uses.
In case of the land being set aside for investment, NLC will be ensuring that the investments in the land benefit local communities and their economies.
On whether foreign companies can be allocated public land, the Bill states, “The Commission may, in consultation with the National and County Governments, allocate land to foreign governments on a reciprocal basis in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”
