Nairobi — Kenya is a step away from effecting radical reforms to its land management system with a Sessional Paper for the country's first-ever comprehensive National Land Policy almost ready.

Speaking at a meeting called by "non-state actors" on land reforms to sensitise various stakeholders on the Draft National Land Policy in Nairobi, Lands Minister James Orengo said the Sessional Paper was in the final stages of preparation and will form one of the first businesses of Parliament when it reconvenes in November.

The Cabinet approved the Draft National Land Policy on June 25, paving the way for the Ministry of Lands to start preparing a Sessional Paper for discussion by Parliament.

"The government has commenced the operationalisation of the Policy," Mr Orengo told participants at last week's meeting.

Mr Orengo's statement came at a time when former United Nation secretary-general Kofi Annan who brokered a political deal that ended Kenya's election violence early last year, was in the country to assess progress on reforms.

On land reforms, the coalition government headed by President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, fronted the preparation of the National Land Policy as a major step towards reforming the country's land management systems.

Broadly, the key recommendations of the National Land Policy include critical issues such as land administration, access to land, land-use planning, addressing historical injustices, environmental degradation, conflicts, unplanned proliferation of informal urban settlements, outdated legal framework, institutional frameworks, and land information management system.

It also addresses constitutional issues such as compulsory acquisition of land (eminent domain) and relevant compensation, and development control (police power) as well as tenure system.

The government has been presiding over the drafting of the policy for nearly six years now.

"The Sessional Paper is now in the final stages of preparation and it will form one of the first businesses of the House when it reconvenes," Mr Orengo said last week.

Under the policy, no one will be allowed to hold land leases for more than 99 years. Currently, people are allowed to have leases for up to 999 years.

In addition, anybody who wants to sell his or her parcel of land will be required to first obtain a written consent from their spouse and children.

The policy also recommends termination of group ranches, increases rights of squatters and trespassers, introduces capital gains tax, inheritance tax and land taxation, among other things.

According to Mr Orengo, a number of land reforms are already being effected.

For example, he said, the Lands Ministry has drafted a Land Law (Amendment) Bill) that will establish a Land Titles Tribunal, which will be introduced to parliament once comments from the Land Law Reform Commission and the Attorney General are received.

Apart from this, a legal Technical Committee has been formed to lay down the modalities for the harmonisation of land laws to make them more responsive to service delivery.

He said the Ministry has done an inventory of the land laws and is in the process of analysing the laws with the aim of harmonising and reducing them to a lesser number.

Under Land Administration, the Ministry has started to address the issue of poor land records.

"It has been recognised that most of the problems that have been encountered by members of the public arise from lack of a modern land information management system. This issue is now being addressed through computerisation and the expansion of the banking hall," he said.

On land grabbing, he noted, the government is documenting and titling public land, especially land owned by institutions.

The ministry is currently addressing the historical Coastal land issues of tenants-at-will and squatters, by taking an inventory of land that is either idle, heavily squatted on or where members of the public are tenants-at-will.