Surveyors cite issues that land counties in trouble

All of the 47 counties in Kenya lack the capacity to deal with land tenure administration as enshrined in the Constitution.

The Institution of Surveyors of Kenya (ISK), at a seminar, said lack of technical skills is also to blame for illegal land transactions.

ISK President Abraham Samoei (left)said the National Land Commission (NLC) was overwhelmed by thousands of land disputes.

“We have many cases of land succession, unresolved disputes, irregular allocation of land, among others,’’ he said, adding that some of these cases are piling up at NLC due to Kenya’s failure to curb land cartels.

Samoei noted that the management of public land by counties has also failed due to lack of requisite skills by the staff. He called for capacity enhancement of counties to enable them perform their roles effectively.

Samoei was speaking in Kisumu during a conference of surveyors at Ciala Resort.

The ISK, he disclosed, is ready to offer professional advice to the Council of Governors to enhance its internal capacities.

He decried a lack of enough personnel in the land departments of counties, adding that there were inadequate licensed land surveyors, valuers, and building surveyors.

He challenged the host, Governor Anyang Nyong’o, who is also chairman of Land and Physical Planning in the CoG, to follow-up on the issues raised.

Nyong’o accused the Judiciary of frustrating the county’s efforts to collect land rates. He also warned land cartels that their days are numbered, and urged investors to eye Kisumu County for its large land mass.