Why experts reject new nominees for the National Land Commission

I cited these to include natural resource management, land adjudication and settlement, land law, land survey, spatial planning or land economics, as elaborated in the National Land Commission Act. Also provided are skills in the social sciences.

I had further observed that the establishment of an independent land commission had been informed by Kenya’s history. Public land allocation and administration had remained captive to politics.

Such allocation was often selectively used to reward political cronies or raise funds for political contests. Perhaps the reason is that the original text of the Act excluded those politically active or those who previously held political office from membership. Petitions moved by interested parties, however, indicted the provision, and it was expunged.

Earlier this week, the executive forwarded the names of seven nominees for vetting by Parliament. If successful, the seven will join two others whose tenure expires in December to form the nine-member team of chairperson and eight commissioners. The full team would consist of four seasoned former MPs.

Notably, the team would be thin on the critical competencies of land administration, surveying, and physical and land use planning. Little wonder that the list of nominees has been disapproved by the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya (ISK), the main professional body that brings together the key land governance experts in Kenya.

The ISK was forthright. In a statement issued soon after the nominees’ list went public, it observes that the commission will “require to play a leading role in advising on land survey, land acquisition, valuation, physical planning, land alienation and leases, and national land information management systems”.

ISK further says the technical skills of land professionals are foundational to the execution of the commission’s mandate, and that their exclusion will inhibit its performance. The ISK, therefore, urges the President to review the appointments so that the commission reflects the desirable multidisciplinary skill sets for the effective management of Kenya’s land resources.

I agree. The team, as is, if approved by Parliament, is unlikely to rise up to the sensitive task of addressing public land management in Kenya, particularly the fragile roles relating to the allocation of public land, assessment of land tax, reviewing grants of irregularly/illegally allocated public land, redressing historical land injustices and the compulsory acquisition and compensation of private land.

These roles not only draw deeply from the expertise of land professionals, but also call for an objective and apolitical approach to business.

In earlier write-ups, I cautioned that as we approach the 2027 General Election, politically correct operatives will engage high gear to try to appropriate any available public land.

A weak and politically exposed land commission will struggle to navigate such attempts.

The writer is a consultant on land governance