Headed by the Ministry of Information, Konza City Project master plan is a beauty. Said to be conceptualized based on 5,000 Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) jobs, if it materializes, it will be an exciting city to live and invest in. It is currently estimated to lead to developments of about Kshs 800 billion. The Kenya Abroad 2012–2017 Platform is studying this project in an effort to create a Project bill that once instituted will enable this vision and other good visions to succeed while at the same time protecting public money invested. Based on news articles, the public has invested close to Kshs 3 billion in Konza City broken down to: Kshs 1 billion buying of land, money used in establishing the designed concept and funding of the ICT board developing the project.
When 6 million citizens of Kenya voted August 2010 for the new constitution they made many orders. Article 68, Parliament shall—(c) enact legislation— (i) to prescribe minimum and maximum land holding acreages in respect of private land, was one of the orders. Further the Fifth Schedule Article 261 (1) sates, “Legislation on land (Article 68) 18 months.” This means on August 4th 2010, 6 million Kenyans placed an order that was supposed to be delivered February 2012. ...
“No where in the constitution does it say land policy is one where 50 people should own 5 million acres of land when 5 million others live as squatters,” says Terry Kairu aspirant for Kiambu Senate. Terry knows very well there is little progress a country can achieve without the right land policy. “Everyday you will hear news of landowners stopping projects that will give Kenyans homes and jobs from being developed! Tatu city project, 4 ways junction project and others are now in courts. Once elected I will lead to pass laws that will make every person who owns land to clearly understand that land was created by God to sustain life. The laws will ensure no project giving Kenyans jobs, food and shelter is ever halted or stopped because of land issue.” Terry is passionate. One thing is for sure, if she is elected as Kiambu Senator the discussion of land will be held and the right laws passed. She says, “I can assure you that Kenyans will not go hungry when just a few hold thousands of acres of land!” ...
“When I look at the picture of the tallest building in New York City, The 102 floors Empire State building, and then think about the project constructor who delivered the building in 410 days my mind studies more,” says Sam who is planning to relocate back to Kenya 2012 and re-establish his construction business. Sam joined the construction industry in the mid 80’s and in over 20 years has being part of the completion of more than 500,000 sq meters of constructed space as lead constructor, foreman, project manager or civil constructor in Kenya and the U.S. ...
There are three possible justifications for some form of land tax in Kenya. First, given the strong evidence that small holdings are in general much more intensively utilized than larger holdings since they have both a higher output and a higher rate of employment per hectare, then a suitable land tax is one method of encouraging either the more intensive use of land by existing farmers or the sale of land to other people, which should also lead to an intensified use of the land. Thus the basic objective in this case is increased income generation and employment creation. ...
“I’ve have gotten information from the Kenya University Project that there is 12,000 acres allocated in for past 20 years that has never being utilized even a single day for economic activity. The people of a country must not be taxed to build roads and then have land allocated to individuals for speculative purpose with an intention to gain later. This is one reason Kenya is importing food and the Kenya shilling is unstable. I for one would not hesitate to rewrite the law of the land in such a way that all land allocated is efficiently used for the purpose it was allocated and if not it reverts to the government National or County to await good plans,” says Dr. Endege whose research work in cancer biomarkers and therapeutics discovery at Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Chiron Diagnostics Corporation Inc. resulted into at least five issued patents in the field of cancer biomarkers and drug discovery. On Diaspora running he says, “Diaspora Kenyans will definitely add value the discussion and policy development process, and should go fight vigorously for all open seats by clearly presenting their ideas and solutions for the issues that Kenyans in different parts of the country need to have solved. Kenyans are yearning for leadership that will make a difference.”...
As the land bill passage on the minimum and maximum land approaches, Kenyans may need to look closely at how the bill will be formulated. Roughly today there are about 100 titles of private leasehold or freehold land over 500 acres. As the land bill is presented it should take into consideration Kenya is made up of 582,000 sq km or about 145,500,000 acres and this land has to sustain the 40 million people and the wildlife. The bill should answer the question of, What should be the legislation of 81,000 acres issued as private leasehold be? Will the land bill be directed toward enabling better settlements for the millions of Kenyans living in slums and as squatters with nor legal rights in the land God created them in.
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“I find this proposal one sided and ill advised. It is not attainable. We are already paying so much tax! Why tax empty land? What about if one wants to maintain natural ecosystem say want to plant a forest? The policy makers need to rethink outside the box,” comments George on the proposal based on Article 68 C (1), Parliament shall (c) enact legislation— (i) to prescribe minimum and maximum land holding acreages in respect of private land. For Kenya to emerge from begging food and donations from countries who manage their resources even under extreme weather patterns that shut down land from production, Kenyans should no longer allow anyone to legally hold hundreds or thousands of acres through private leasehold titles. The strategic food reserves should never be empty at any given year....
Aspirants of Governor like Kenyan Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Richard Onyonka, who has stated his intention of running for Kisii County Governor, and County Assembly aspirants will need to make proposals on the land bill as relates to their goals for the county. Based on Permanent Secretary Dorothy Angote words, “There is no other standard against which we can weigh the legislations apart from the Constitution,” the aspirants for the 47 Governor seats and county assembly seats will have to see that the land bill takes into account the provisions made in the constitution as relates to land and county. Below some constitution clauses that should be considered by those who will be running for Governor or County Assembly seats and summary of approximate land acreage and people in county. ...
“There is no other standard against which we can weigh the legislations apart from the Constitution,” stated Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Lands, Dorothy Angote as relates to the land bills in a meetign. She added, “Interrogate the Bills keenly and ensure that they achieve the desired land reforms objectives relating to use, management, access and the right to land.” As the Land Bill develops for passage February 2012, Dorothy is the person expected to steer the process toward the best bill possible. Dorothy story told through her Curriculum Vitae (C.V) shows a reformer with a wealth of experience. ...
