IMPLEMENTATION OF LAND POLICY INITIATIVE DECLARATION IN THE CONTEXT OF KENYA’S EXPERIENCE IN THE FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL LAND POLICY Paper Presented at the Land Governance and Poverty Conference by Ms Mariamu elMaawy Principal Secretary, State Department of Land MINISTRY OF LAND HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT Washington DC, March 16, 2016

RATIONALE The formulation of the National Land Policy was initiated in 2004 as a response to the problems and challenges in the land sector since Kenya’s independence in 1963 The decision to initiate the formulation process was informed by common realization that information in the land sector was a key factor in setting out the long held socio-political challenges, unlocking the economy and facilitating access to the economic and social rights of the poor, women, children and the minority in the society

THE PROCESS The formulation process commenced in February 2004 and was completed in April 2007 with the adoption of the Draft National Land Policy by stakeholders at a National Symposium. The Draft National Land Policy was approved by Parliament and published as Sessional Paper No. 3 of 2009 on National Land Policy in August, 2009.

MANIFESTATIONS OF THE CHALLENGES The challenges are manifested in issues such as: Fragmentation of land into uneconomical units. Marginalization of women, children and the minority. Landlessness. Squatter phenomenon in urban and rural areas. Lack of security of tenure. Poor governance in administration of land. Disparities in land ownership. Inequity in access to land.

LINK WITH THE LPI DECLARATION In as much as the formulation of Kenya’s National Land Policy commenced before the AU Declaration of the Land Policy Initiative in 2006, it should be noted that the issues, policy guidelines and principles proffered in the policy document resonate well with the identified issues and desired solutions in the LPI declaration documents

LAND POLICY ISSUES The Policy addressed a wide range of issues which are classified under the following broad categories: Constitutional Issues Land Tenure Issues Land Use Management Issues Land Administration Issues Land Issues requiring Special Intervention

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM ON LAND The National Land Policy principles and guidelines were mainstreamed in the Constitution of Kenya 2010 under Chapter Five on Land and Environment It captured the Policy principles and guidelines in the following specific areas: Principles of Land Policy under Article 60. Classification of land into public, private and community land – Article 61-64. Land holding by non-citizens under Article 65. Regulation of Land Use and Property under Article 66. Establishment of the National Land Commission under Article 67.

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM ON LAND Defining of Legislation in Land under Article 68. Obligations in respect of Environment under Article 69. Enforcement of Environmental Rights under Article 70 Agreements relating to natural resources under Article 71. Legislations relating to Environment under Article 72. Protection of the right to property under Article 40. Right to Environment under Article 42.

LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENT The following legislations have been enacted to conform with the requirements of the Constitution and National Land Policy: National Land Commission Act, 2012. The Land Act, 2012. The Land Registration Act, 2012. The Environment and Land Court Act, 2011. The Urban Areas and Cities Act, 2011.

LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENT The following legislations are in the advanced stages of finalization and enactment: The Physical Planning Bill, 2015. Land Amendments Bill, 2015 which will cover Historical Injustices, Evictions and Resettlements amongst others. Community Land Bill, 2015

POLICY DEVELOPMENT The Government has initiated review and development of the following policies to take into account the Constitutional provisions on land policy principles, establishment and assignment of functions to various institutional structures and identified best practices. They include: Review of the National Land Policy. Formulation of the National Land Use Policy. Formulation of the National Urban Development Policy. Formulation of the Natural Resources Policy.

RE-ENGINEERING SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE LAND SECTOR In the context of the Constitutional and National Land Policy principles and guidelines, the Government has initiated the following measures to reform the performance of the land sector: Review and establishment of new institutional structures at National and devolved levels of government to deal with different levels of land functions. Preparation of the National Spatial Plan to provide a framework for land use planning and development in the country.

RE-ENGINEERING SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE LAND SECTOR cont’d iii. Establishment of National Spatial Data infrastructure framework for effective and efficient spatial data management . iv. Surveying and mapping of the entire country. v. Establishment of a National Land Information Management System. vi. Rapid adjudication and documentation of land rights to facilitate the issuance of titles to land to communities. vii. Capacity building in terms of skills and numbers both at National and County Government levels. viii. Facilitation of the National Land Commission to ably perform its constitutional functions effectively. ix. Digitization and automation of land records to facilitate computer- based electronic operation system for efficiency and improved governance. x. Construction and equipping of modern land registries in the 47 counties across the country.

CHALLENGES FACING IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LAND POLICY Financial resources to roll out the programmes relating to the land use planning, land surveying and mapping, establishment of computer based land information management systems. We need to develop more capacity to populate adequately the departments in both National and count government as well as the private sector specifically in such technical areas as physical planning, land surveying, valuation, ICT and land administration. Need for a comprehensive awareness campaign to encourage participation, deliberations and debate, to remove misconceptions and The road map for implementation needs to embrace various stakeholders and actors with clarity of their roles.

BEST PRACTICES The formulation process of the National Land Policy offers the following good lessons which could be considered best practices in the Region: The adoption of a widely consultative, participatory and multi-sector approach. The formulation process was largely shielded from the political dynamics. The mainstreaming of the core principles of the Policy in the Constitution of 2010 ensured that they are protected from easy manipulation or change. The funding of the National Land Policy formulation process was largely facilitated by the Government.

Thank You