Emerging Issues On Compulsory Land Acquisition In Kenya - Land Governance Or Politics?

Land is the most important natural resource in Kenya. It is highly emotive and valued as its importance hinges greatly on socio-economic as well as political considerations. As a developing country. Kenya requires fast space quality infrastructure development. Over the last decade, the Government of Kenya has substantially increased its focus towards infrastructure development in order to achieve economic growth and transformation. These developments require land which are in private hands, hence forcing the government to undertake compulsory land acquisition for the intended "public purpose". In Kenya legal instruments namely Kenya Constitution 2010 and Land Act of 2012 exist for the purposes of expropriation of land. However, compulsory land acquisition has always been a delicate issue and is increasingly becoming more complex today despite the establishment of the National Land Commission which has got express and constitutional mandate to undertake compulsory land acquisitions on behalf of government agencies. The paper is based on review of secondary data and project analysis of three major infrastructural projects in Kenya. The analysis reveals that the Kenyan populace continue to be intrigued by the emerging issues on compulsory land acquisition including disagreements over amounts due for compensation, inappropriate compensation of landowners, overvaluation of the affected property, political interference and numerous litigations that ultimately result into delayed implementation of infrastructure development. This raises the question - Are the emerging issues on compulsory land acquisition in Kenya hinge on land governance framework or politics? Focusing on selected development projects in Kenya, this paper traces the origin of land acquisition practice, highlights the current emerging issues on compulsory land acquisition and possible impact of the process on the implementation of infrastructure projects.