The Land Sector Non State Actors (LSNSA) is a network of civil society organizations working together to promote secure and equitable access to land and natural resource for all through advocacy, dialogue and capacity building. We petition parliament on issues we hold to be of fundamental importance in the context and content of the two bills before the National Assembly.
The KLA proposed constitutional principles on land reform as captured in the constitutional draft have become more pronounced with the approach of General Elections and the transition that is expected to see the departure of President Moi from leadership. We therefore, detest the frantic efforts to go to the forthcoming elections before adopting the Ghai draft constitution, because that will be endangering the aroused expectation that at long last we are on the road to sorting out land problems we have lived with since independence.
The first set of the land laws were enacted in 2012 in line with the timelines outlined in the Constitution of Kenya 2010. In keeping with the spirit of the constitution, the Land Act, Land Registration Act and the national Land Commission Act respond to the requirements of Articles 60, 61, 62, 67 & 68 of the Constitution.
The Kenya Land Alliance (KLA) welcomes the new Forest Act 2005 for placing forest resources at the core of sustaining both the local and national economies. Indeed locally forests are a source of food, fodder, wood fuel, construction materials, spiritual and cultural nourishment and traditional medicines among others. The Act, beyond highlighting the environmental and ecological functions of the forest sector, affirmsthe importance of our forest cover as one of the country’s major national assets, and this underscores the need to entrench it.
The Role Of Wetlands In Poverty Reduction- Extreme poverty among rural poor people living around wetlands remains a daily reality for more than 56% of Kenya’s population, who subsist on less than one dollar a day. Seventy percent of extremely poor households, a majority of who live in rural areas where hunger and poverty prevails, are now being caught up in a new web of lack of access to wetlands as safety-net during hard times due to appropriation of wetlands by private developers.
The Government of Kenya through the Ministry of Lands and Housing (MOLH) has finally embarked on the process of developing a National Land Policy (NLP) that is envisaged to be in place by June 2005. It has been a tortuous journey for many in the civil society and other stakeholders. The NLP will come, as a gratifying culmination of a battle well fought and the win will hopefully be savoured for a very long time to come. The Minister of Lands and Housing, Hon.
THEME: “Sustainable infrastructure, services and social protection for gender
equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls”
It is significant that for the first time land is specifically recognized as a constitutional category in the Draft Constitution Bill. This is important because it gives the issue of land the level of visibility that is always associated with constitutional matters, and unlike other ordinary legislation, a Constitution can only be amended by a special majority. The chapter that deals with land in the Draft Constitution Bill is Chapter Eleven under the title Land and Property.
The recently released report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Land Law System of Kenya has sparked varying reactions from Kenyans of all walks of life. While some complain that the Commission did not complete its task per all its terms of reference, the land gurus are thrilled by the fact that the report makes many far reaching recommendations on the principles of formulating a National Land Policy Framework and the Constitutional Framework for Land Administration and Management.
The Kenya Land Alliance takes this opportunity to congratulate the Commission of Inquiry into the Land Law Systems of Kenya (‘Njonjo Commission’) for completing their task, which has painstakingly taken them three years. The KLA fraternity was pleased to hear the president’s remarks that the Njonjo report was a blueprint that would guide the future government in handling the delicate land issues efficiently and justly. Equally delighting was the Mr. Njonjo’s remark that wherever they went the wananchi expressed appreciation of their appointment to look into the land question.
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