Ndungu Land Commission

The Commission of Inquiry into the Illegal/Irregular Allocation of Public Land, which came to be known as the "Ndungu Commission" after the name of its Chair, Paul Ndungu, was a Kenya Government Commission established in 2003. The Commission was formulated to inquire into the extra-legal allocation of public lands and lands reserved for public purpose to private individuals and corporate entities, and to provide recommendations to the Government for the restoration of those lands to their original purpose or other appropriate solutions.[1]

Membership

The Commission as appointed by President Mwai Kibaki had representatives from civil society, academia, the legal profession, and civil service:[2]

  1. Paul Ndiritu Ndungu - (Chairman)
  2. Michael Aronson - (Vice-chairman)
  3. Ahmed Ahmed Abdallah
  4. Davinder Lamba
  5. Ann Kirima
  6. Ishan Kapila
  7. Odenda Lumumba
  8. Winston O. Ayoki
  9. Nancy Mukunya
  10. Peter Koech
  11. John Githongo - Permanent Secretary, Office of the President, responsible for Governance & Ethics
  12. Kiriinya Mukiira - Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Lands and Settlement
  13. Rachel Arungah - Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife
  14. Erastus Kabutu Mwongera - Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Roads, Public Works and Housing
  15. Zachary Onyancha Ogongo - Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government
  16. Lawrence Agayi Orowe - Designated representative of the Permanent Secretary, Office of the President, responsible for Governance & Ethics
  17. Nelson Waruinge Kimani - Designated representative of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Lands and Settlement
  18. David K. Mbugua - Designated representative of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife
  19. Musa Kibiti Rintari - Designated representative of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Roads, Public Works and Housing
  20. Muli Nyamai Malombe - Designated representative of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government

The following served as Joint Secretaries:

  1. Victoria Kattambo
  2. Smokin Wanjala

The Counsel to the Commission was:

  1. Wanyiri Kihoro

Summary of Findings

Upon detailed review of land-related laws in Kenya, official reports concerning the land issue by government and non-government bodies, documents and records submitted by ministries and public bodies, and reports and memoranda by professional associations and members of the public, the Commission categorised its findings[3] according to three broad types of public land:

I. Urban, State & Ministries’ Land

The Commission indicated that numerous methods were used to grab land falling under this category.

In summary, the Commission found that the powers vested in the President had been grossly abused by both former Presidents and successive Commissioners of Lands and their deputies over the years, under both previous regimes; there had been ‘unbridled plunder’ (Commission: p. 81) of public land by local Councillors and officials; illegal transactions were hugely facilitated by the extensive complicity of professionals (lawyers, surveyors, valuers, physical planners, engineers, architects, land registrars, estate agents and bankers) in the land and property market; and most high profile allocations of public land were made to companies incorporated specifically for that purpose, largely to shield the directors and shareholders of such entities from easy public view. Finally, and interestingly, the Commission found that ‘most illegal allocations of public land took place before or soon after the multiparty general elections of 1992, 1997 and 2002’, reinforcing its view that public land was allocated ‘as political reward or patronage’ (p. 83).

II. Settlement Schemes & Trust Lands

Instead of playing their role as custodians of public resources including land, county and municipal councils have posed the greatest danger to these resources … the most pronounced land grabbers in these areas were the Councillors them-selves…The corruption within central government has been replicated at the local level through the activities and omissions of county and municipal councillors (Commission: p.147).

III. Forestlands, National Parks, Game Reserves, Wetlands, Riparian Reserves & Protected Areas

Through this catalog of corruption, the Commission concluded that there was systematic and widespread abuse of public trust by public officials, to the extent that many officials failed to see anything morally wrong with their allocating land illegally. T*here were many centers of power which were responsible for the illegal allocation of land, yet the Commission makes it clear that the lead in public plunder has consistently been given from the top. Kenya, it concludes, has fallen into a state of ‘moral decadence’, this epitomized no more clearly than by the extensive participation in land grabbing by churches, mosques, temples and other faith institutions, these including such venerable institutions as the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi, the Church Commission of Kenya, and the Anglican Church.

Summary of Recommendations

The Commission made a series of recommendations[4] for each of the three main categories as outlined above in the Summary of Findings, as well as a number of recommendation which apply to across the board.

Cost

In response to a query by Joseph Lekuton, on 16 December 2008, Orwa Ojode the Assistant Minister for Provincial Administration and Internal Security confirmed to Parliament that the Commission had cost the Kenya Government Ksh 77,812,169.[5]

References

  1. http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=1144028411&pageNo=1
  2. http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/news/june03/2003300601.htm
  3. Southall, Roger, in: Review of African Political Economy, 103, March 2005, pp.142-51.
  4. Government of Kenya, Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Illegal/Irregular Allocation of Public Land, June 2004
  5. Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard). 16 December 2008. p. 4107. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
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