The new year may be defined by a few issues and dynamics. Key activities and decisions may be heavily influenced by the anxieties and subtleties surrounding the 2027 General Election.
We are, therefore, likely to witness an escalation of issuance of title deeds in voter-friendly zones, or the use of such interventions by the government to influence voter attitudes in some of the hostile enclaves.
The construction of affordable houses, likely to be a “carrot” to be dangled during the 2027 election campaigns, is expected to be accelerated. Where on public land, the privatisation of such tenure rights through the sale of houses may prove sticky if the due process of conversion is not ensured.
The early part of this year may see the fast-tracking of the appointment of the third cohort of land commissioners, a process which was stopped by the court late last year. That commissioners Esther Murugi and Tiya Galgalo remained in office while others left complicates the fragile appointment matrix, which, besides technical competencies, takes into account regional and gender diversities.
The two commissioners will be replaced at the end of this year, the eve of political campaigns. This may attract heavy push and pull, as different political formations front interests.
The digitisation of land records, key to enhancing transparency and efficiency in land transactions, is expected to be escalated beyond the current counties of Nairobi, Mombasa, Murang’a and Isiolo.
For high impact, one expects the project to be extended to the densely populated and urbanised jurisdictions of Kajiado, Machakos and Kiambu, followed by the far-flung Kisumu, Uasin Gishu, Kakamega, and Nakuru counties.
During the year, stakeholders are likely to push the government to complete the review of the national land policy, a process that kicked off in 2023 but remains incomplete, largely due to funding limitations.
The National Land Commission (Amendment) Act 2025 provided the National Land Commission (NLC) another five years to receive, investigate and make recommendations on historical land injustice claims. Kenyans will therefore expect this process to be accelerated.
The NLC, which recommended the surrender of 3,200 acres of Kakuzi land for the settlement of vulnerable people late last year, may spring up more surprises. Such recommendations, with implications to business, land rights and local politics, will need to be carefully weighed so that they serve justice without disrupting the existing order.
Similarly, riding under the 2025 extension of the timeline, the NLC should resume the review of previous grants of irregularly/illegally allocated public land. In the absence of NLC reviews between May 2017, when its mandate expired, and now, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, through the courts, has done a commendable job helping to recover such land.
Last year, the recovery of a 17-acre chunk of Karura Forest land near Gigiri, worth billions, was irregularly allocated to a powerful Moi-era minister, restoring hope in the process.
Being the eve of elections, politically correct operatives may engage high gear to appropriate any available public land. The NLC must not allow the use of its institutional infrastructure to legitimise such public pillage, or else risk the consequential public wrath.
