There is a court battle over the land pitting businessman Horatious Da Gama Rose and a firm associated with former National Social Security Fund Managing Trustee Jos Konzolo. Da Gama Rose who is admitted to a hospital in London is represented in the case by leading city lawyer Cecil Miller.
In the same breath, the National Land Commission has accused the Ministry of Lands of holding on to responsibilities not within its mandate.
Commissioner Abdulkadir Adan Khalif reiterated that although the role of the ministry was to register titles, leases had to be reviewed by the commission first before being handed over to the ministry.
“It is the commission which has taken the functions of the former Commissioner of Lands that executes the leases, it is always the function of the ministry to register titles,” Commissioner Khalif said.
Swazuri interjected accusing the lands committee of not coming to the aid of the commission when its role is undermined by the ministry.
“If you see the ministry encroaching on our work, how come nothing is being done – then we become crying babies,” said Swazuri.
The commission clarified that its advertisement on local dailies indicating that titles issued after March 1st were null and void, were in respect of titles and not all parcels of land.
“This is to remind members of the public, banking institutions and all other entities that any such lease or certificate of title issued after the 1st of March 2013 and not signed and sealed by the commission is not a legal document and should not be used for any transactions…” read part of the advertisement.
It went on to urge members of the public especially those transacting such businesses to confirm with the commission the validity of the leases before transacting any business with them.
MP Mwiru noted the panic the advertisement had brought around the country saying even banks had sought guidance on the way forward further urging the commission to sensitize the public before making such announcements.
A survey released by the Land Development and Governance Institute indicated that over the past one and a half years, developers and lending institutions have lost large sums of money due to the fight between the Ministry of Lands and the National Land Commission Chairman, urging that the issues be resolved as soon as possible.
Meanwhile owners of the 22 companies implicated in the alleged grabbing of over 500,000 acres of land in Lamu will know their fate next week after the National Land Commission Chairman said it will release its report on the matter.
Swazuri says despite the challenges they faced in accessing files to get details, the committee had obtained sufficient information from the owners and the land registries and had already completed the first draft of the report.
He said during the probe, they ascertained that some squatters had invaded the ranches adding that all the allotees were indigenous Lamu residents and not ‘outsiders’ as had been reported.
About The Author
