My article as published today in The People page 12. Ngilu Ardhi House closure should open its doors Posted by: The People in Opinion May 22, 2014 By Lawi Kibire The incessant wrangles at Ardhi House— turf war between Lands Cabinet secretary Charity Ngilu and National Land Commission chair Mohamed Swazuri— have stalled land transactions across the country in the past one year. Land though a highly emotive matter that is at the heart of so much family, clan and ethnic tensions in the country, it is also our largest economic resource. While virtually all Kenyans place a high premium on land not just as a resource, but a sentimental possession, yet many are either landless or have land minus document to prove ownership; leaving them at the mercy of land hungry ‘connected’ brokers to exploit them at will. Paradoxically, even those with titles are just as insecure as those with none because the sickening corruption in the sector has eroded the sanctity of the document — almost rendering them —‘just a paper’ as former Lands minister Amos Kimunya once quipped when he cancelled titles for settlers who had encroached on the Mau Complex water tower. My interest in penning this piece arises out of the 10-day closure and eventual re-opening of the Lands Registry in Nairobi by Ngilu. Leave aside the legality and who did it. The two major players Ngilu and Swazuri are people I have utmost respect for and with who I have interacted at various times—Dr Swazuri was my lecturer and school chairman at the University of Nairobi. I met Hon Ngilu in her office some few months ago and she made me feel at home. On realising that I was a land economist she said: “This is your home ministry and you are welcome anytime”. I supported the closure of the registry if the reasons given for the action were the real cause. For the record, I have personally suffered because of the inefficiencies in the ministry, and if digitisation of lands records— long overdue— will eradicate the cartels that are fleecing and terrorising innocent Kenyans, I embrace it. Envisaged reforms Digitisation— with all other factors constant— which, I pray is part of the badly needed and envisaged reforms in the critical sector, will drastically reduce the turn around time in processing land transactions. Loss of files in the lands registries is a cancer that ails the sector across the country. I, too, welcome the minister’s declaration that she will be inviting Kenyans whose records are missing to submit requisite documents for file reconstruction; it’s only an insane person who can object to the godsend opportunity to right documents abused by cartels and their henchmen at Ardhi House. The promise by Jubilee administration to offer three million titles to Kenyans in the next one year can only be achieved if utmost efficiency in land registries is achieved; lest the promise is just mere talk! When the titling process will commence in my ancestral land along Kerio Valley, then I will believe that we are headed to the promised land— “Land with genuine titles”. For now the wait and see is my principle. Mama Ngilu, as a landed professional, I now rest my hope in you, as you work with Swazuri hand in hand bereft of any cards below the table for the good of all. I am an optimistic Kenyan. The writer is a land economist and council member of the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya(ISK).
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 07:59:57 +0000
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