How land cartels exploit toothless laws to con owners

Disir

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Sep 30, 2011
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Seven years and four successive Cabinet ministers later, Kenya is yet to fully usher in a new land administration regime as envisaged in the Constitution, enquiries by the Sunday Nation reveal.

And the result has been disastrous to the economy, affecting families and businesses and severely eroding confidence in the sanctity of title deeds and security of tenure.

Multiple interviews indicate that a combination of State capture by vested interests with a tight stranglehold on the land sector, lack of political will and a compromised leadership at Ardhi House – the Land ministry headquarters – ensured the 10th and 11th parliaments passed a raft of new land laws but efforts to implement regulations to give teeth to the laws have largely stalled.

LAND GRABBING

The result has been while new laws were passed as required by the Constitution, the old order of land grabbing thrived and expanded, with wananchi treated to incessant public altercations between the ministry, the National Land Commission (NLC) and county governments over legal mandates at the expense of service delivery.

Many of the battles over land have ended up in court, including audacious hostile grabbing of prime properties – particularly in Nairobi – by powerful shadowy groups.

A new breed of sophisticated cartels aided by senior civil service cohorts sitting at Ardhi House are as audacious as they are ruthless, with rogue government officials complicit in altering records.

They have been described by veteran Nairobi lawyer Fred Ojiambo as “a group of highly organised individuals and a resourceful cartel operating with the support of high ranking politicians and civil servants”.

The Nation’s enquiries found that one of the most riveting examples of the headache at Ardhi House is an ongoing court battle which involves a building on Nairobi’s Kenyatta Avenue where a property owner alleges making an application to have the lease extended upon expiry.
How land cartels con owners

It's crap like this that pisses me off.
 

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