Amend lands law, I will crush cartels, CS nominee Wahome tells MPs » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya Aug 1 – Lands and Housing Cabinet Secretary nominee Alice Wahome has vowed to crush land grabbing cartels and fraudsters if approved in the docket saying since she assumed the docket prior to her dismal, progress has been made.

Wahome who was responding to questions during her vetting for the position by the National Assembly Appointments Committee, pushed for amendments on the Lands Act to allow the Chief Lands Registrar have final verdict on approving or thwarting land titles.

The Lands and Housing nominee said courts having the final word on title cancellation will embolden cartels as they bribe their way in court.

“We need amendments in the land act such that technical information that has been changed by the chief land registrar should effect a cancellation by law. Previously the court has taken a position that a title can only be cancelled by the court,” Wahome said.

She insisted unless amendments are effected to give powers to the Lands Ministry to have final word to title adjudication the land grabbers will continue fraudulently acquiring land in the country to the detriment of genuine land owners.

“I have impugned some of records because some records are clearly fraud.I have decided not to take the dirty laundry of the land ministry to court because some of the cartels are powerful and they by their way in court,”Wahome told MPs.

Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwa tasked the Former MP to elaborate her track records in deal with land grabbing which has been a perennial issue affecting the docket with claims of land officials colluding with fraudsters.

“We have had many cases of land grabbing and we have seen cases brought to your office. Cases where your ministry officials and those of the police have been involved.What will you do if approved to curb the cases?” he posed.

Wahome defended his tenure in the docket saying she has been forced to take up the role of enforcement in some cases by visiting contested lands in a bid to scare land cartels.

“I will tackle the fraudsters,i have found myself locked up in a property that clearly the records were changed.I was locked by goons even after being accompanied by police .I am taking this fight to the crime scenes and I will need support of enforcement,” she said.

Minority Leader Junet Mohammed however poked holes on the strategy by the lands nominees to face the land cartels by visiting contested land saying its not sustainable.

“You have following up public land, which land have you retuned that is grabbed and how many land can you visit because this is not sustainable,” Mohammed said.

The Lands nominee asserted the strategy of visiting some of the areas where public land has been grabbed has been successful so far despite the feasibility concern of the measures.

“If I can go to five or ten to stamp the authority that am here and I will not allow land grabbing, so be it.It has worked and I want the law to be explicit otherwise no  one is safe unless we give a deathblow to cartels,”Wahome stated.

MPs raised concerns on the rampant of missing land files in the Lands Ministry with the intent to grab public and private land which has been on the increase abetting land grabbing.

Wahome admitted that high level officials within the Lands Ministry have facilitated land grabbing in the country leading to duplication of titles hence the ruling of the court establishing land title is not prima facie of ownership.

“I have witnessed very many cases of land grabbing and some are sad cases because  grabbers don’t respect title deeds and quite largely the land ministry officers have been part and parcel of procuring such titles. Some of retired officers have been part of the cartels,” she disclosed.

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