[Source: The Standard, by Renson Mnyamwezi]
Taita-Taveta Senator Jones Mwaruma has opposed a section of the proposed Land Value Index Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018 seeking to extend the compensation period to two years.
The Bill currently in the National Assembly proposes to amend the Land Act, the Land Registration Act and the Prevention, Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons and Affected Communities Act to provide for the assessment of land value index in respect of compulsory acquisition.
Speaking in Mwatate town on Tuesday, 30th April 2019, Mr Mwaruma said compensation of land compulsorily acquired by the government must be immediate.
The Land Value Index aims at standardising and harmonising the value of land across the country for the primary purpose of determining rent, land rates, stamp duty on conveyance of land and compensation of expropriated land.
The Bill also seeks to make land rates, rent, stamp duty and compensation predictable, rational and not prone to subjective valuations.
The Bill also seeks to regulate the long and protracted process of compulsory acquisition and harmonise and standardise the compensation thereof.
The Bill proposes to amend the Land Act to ease the acquisition of and access to land or rights over land in order successfully implement public infrastructure projects.
Consequently, the actualisation of the country’s development strategy relating to public infrastructure would re-establish Kenya as the jurisdiction of choice for investment and improve the ease of doing business, in Kenya.
Kenya’s Vision 2030 development strategy is largely pegged on development of infrastructure which is dependent on, among other things, availability of land, which needs in certain instances to be acquired by Government for project development purposes.
Voi MP Jones Mlolwa said that the implementation of the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) report would help address historical land injustices in the country. He said certain communities such as Taita and Taveta had been deprived of their land rights and were living as squatters either in government and private farms.
[Full article: The Standard, by Renson Mnyamwezi]
