The NLC has not served the purpose for which it was established. Operations of the commission were meant to address the endemic abuse of land allocation. Prior to the birth of NLC, land used to be dished out for political patronage by the President and the commissioner for Lands.
The advent of the commission was supposed to address the glaring issues that affected the allocation of public land in the country. Unfortunately, the commission had a false start after turf wars hit the commission and then Lands CS Charity Ngilu. For some months, the commission and the ministry were embroiled in nasty wars at the expense of the taxpayers.
However, after the exit of Ngilu, there has been relative calm concerning feuds with the parent ministry. However, instead of the commission fortifying its position as the principal arbiter on matters land, it dwelt on issues bordering on irregularities.
Its focus has now shifted to compensation for public land. This is an area that has turned out to be very lucrative but riddled with loopholes. Many merchants and political racketeers are exploiting gaps available to milk billions of shillings from the public coffers in fraudulent and illegal claims. The standard gauge railway compensation plan has seen billions of shillings lost to either ghost claimants or double payments that have ended up in the pockets of influential people.
At this point, we can’t talk of disbanding the commission because it is an independent commission. I agree that it has been a one-man show at the helm. That is quite unfortunate and must be fixed. We only hear about chairman Muhammad Swazuri and to some extent vice chairman Abigael Mbagaya. Nothing is heard of other commissioners.
The commission must be strengthened and its operations institutionalised so most of the issues that are flying out here can be avoided. We must actually look at the failures of the commission, what it has achieved and what areas can be addressed to make it truly independent to deliver on its mandate.
The analyst spoke to the Star