Editorial
Through this Land Update, KLA appreciates that for the first time in the history of Kenya a comprehensive draft national land policy has been formulated. We therefore urge all Kenyans and the general public to read, debate and contribute to the finalization of the National Land Policy. This is because the final National Land Policy will provide the basis for the review and harmonization of the existing laws and enacting of new ones to facilitate the achievement of the objectives set out in the overall national development policy framework, Kenya Vision 2030.
True, the draft National Land Policy seeks to address most fundamental problems associated with the land question in the country but it require consensus on a number of land reform proposals for easy implementation to be achieved. Otherwise it is fool-hardy to expect policy options enshrined in the draft National Land Policy to provide a panacea for all land problems beyond merely providing the framework and direction of dealing with issues of land ownership, security of tenure, land use development and environmental conservation on a sustainable basis. Therefore in line with the principle of participatory democracy, KLA invites you as you read this Land Update to make salient contributions for the review of the policy proposals and any adjustments to this draft National Land Policy so that it reflects the realities of our land situation and challenges.
KLA can clearly say that this draft National Land Policy if adequately debated and reviewed by all should represent a new turning point in land matters and overall development in Kenya. The present land law and tenure system retrenched since independence should be a thing of the past. Hence in there place shall be new land policy guidelines set out in this draft National Land Policy, together with yet to be promulgated legislations that shall guide our development objectives. Indeed the gist of the new land reform proposals require a new constitutional dispensation to anchor existing land rights as well as revisiting the same in the public interest as a basis of the national land reform as a new constitutional duty on the state.
In a nutshell the draft National Land Policy is a special case of Kenya’s transformation of property and proprietary relations in our society. The unequal gender proprietary relations that appear ingrained in our customary system of land relations need to be broadly debated and redressed for good. KLA acknowledges that some of the proposals in the draft National Land Policy will spark off controversy but we must debate and reach a consensus where it actually matters.
