•EACC Chairman Eliud Wabukala said information sharing is going to be critical between EACC and NLC
•Public Institutions are expected to undertake the Corruption Risk Assessment.
The Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission on Thursday said it will continue partnering with the National Land Commission to recover all the illegally acquired public land.
EACC Chairman Eliud Wabukala said information-sharing is going to be critical between EACC and NLC because of the criminal element that keeps coming in the land sector.
“Cooperation and partnership especially in investigations are key so that we can enhance recovery and reregistration of illegally acquired land,” he said.
Speaking during a virtual session where the NLC took chairpersons of constitutional offices through the 2020-2025 strategic plan, Wabukala warned that all the illegally acquired public land will be recovered.
The plan will guide the commission's operations for the next five years.
NLC chairman Gershom Otachi, CEO Kabale Tache took part in the session.
Wabukala said land is prone to corruption and unethical conduct because it is an important commodity.
He urged NLC to incorporate a risk assessment EACC did with the commission and the Ministry of Land in 2016 into the strategic plan.
Public institutions are expected to undertake the corruption risk assessment.
They are supposed to conduct an assessment and develop a plan to mitigate risks and loopholes in the legal and policy environment; regulations, processes, procedures and practices guiding the core mandate of such institutions.
Wabukala said there is a need to review of codes of conduct in the land sector.
“We need to have corruption control measures. We urge the management at NLC to continue empowering corruption prevention committees, integrity assurance officers, internal audit functions as critical elements in helping to bolster the performance of the commission,” he said.
He praised NLC’s strategic plan saying it is a very important document that looks very progressive.
EACC has in recent past recovered several public properties before handing them over to Bomet and Nakuru counties.
The 11 public properties were recovered through alternative dispute resolution mechanism and judicial processes.
The properties, with an estimated value of more than Sh 780 million, comprised: 140 acres of Naivasha Municipality land valued at Sh 490 million that had been reserved for research; two blocks of land belonging to Nakuru Municipality with an estimated value of Sh 116.2 million.
Others were 27 public officers residences and two parcels of land reserved for a survey camp for the Department of Survey in Nakuru; two blocks of land valued at Sh 4.2 million reserved for the construction of a stadium in Sotik township in Bomet; and Sh 150 million Postal Corporation land which was disrupted during an irregular alienation process in Nakuru town along Kenyatta Avenue.
NLC chairperson Gershom Otachi said land reform in the country is not a domain for one institution.
“This plan, therefore, underpins the need for meaningful stakeholder engagement, collaboration and partnership,” Otachi said.
Acting CEO Kabale Tache said the monitoring of the strategic plan will be done systematically and continuously.
“We are committed to secure land rights, manage public land and exercise oversight on the use of land and natural resources for the benefit of all Kenyans,” she said.
The strategic plan has five key result areas: management and administration of public land, use of land and security of land rights, revenue generation from land resources, land dispute resolution and institutional strengthening.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris