LDGI 7TH SCORECARD REPORT The new land laws. 17 th July 2012

Transcription

1 1 LDGI 7TH SCORECARD REPORT The new land laws 17 th July

2 CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION About the Score Card report OBJECTIVES FINDINGS DATA SOURCES RESPONDENTS DETAILS AND INTERACTION WITH LANDS OFFICES Gender of the Respondents Age brackets of respondents Level of education Visits to the lands offices Service Delivery Indicators PERCEPTION ON THE LAND REFORM IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS Awareness of Land Reforms Inclusiveness of the Land Law Making Process Awareness of recently passed land laws INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE IN THE LAND REFORM PROCESS Trend Analysis of Performance of Land Reform Institutions CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS CONCLUSIONS Public awareness of the new land laws Performance of the key institutions Inclusiveness of the reform process Service delivery RECOMMENDATIONS

3 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Gender... 9 Figure 2.2: Age by Category Figure 2.3: Level of Education Figure 2.4: No of Visits to the Lands Office Figure 2.5: Types of dealings in the Land Office Figure 2.6: Ease of accessing information in the Land Registries Figure 2.7: Cost of transacting or getting services Figure 2.8: Timeliness in carrying out transactions Figure 2.9: Incidences of Corruption and Security with Title Deed Figure 2.10: Ease of Dispute Resolution Figure 2.11: Awareness of the Proposed Land Reforms Figure 2.12: Familiarity with the Chapter Five of the Constitution Figure 2.13: Awareness of the contents of the Sessional Paper 3 of NLP Figure 2.14: Views on how to make the process of making Laws more inclusive Figure 2.15: Awareness of the Land Laws Figure 2.16: Awareness of the contents of the land laws Figure 2.17: Awareness of the new institutions Figure 2.18: Performance of the Ministry of Lands Figure 2.19: Performance of the Parliament Figure 2.20: Performance of CIC Figure 2.21: Performance of the State Law Office Figure 2.22: Performance of the Kenya law Reform Commission Figure 2.23: Performance of the Ethics and Anticorruption Commission-EACC

4 List of Tables Table 2.1: Frequency of Visits to the Lands Departments Table 2.2: Institutional performance in the land reform process

5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Land is a key resource in Kenya s socio-economic development and as such, equitable and sustainable land use remains an important aspect for economic success and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. However, though the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 and the National Land Policy clearly give guidelines for this, good results will only be achieved through the active participation and involvement of all stakeholders in the land sector. The country made some good progress on land reforms by enacting four key land laws (the Land Act, 2012, the Land Registration Act, 2012, the National Land Commission Act, 2012 and the Environment and Land Court Act, 2011). LDGI commissioned the 7 th scorecard process with the aim of gauging whether Kenyans are familiar with the constitutional, land policy provisions as well as the newly enacted land laws and their specific contents. The specific objectives of the 7 th scorecard included; monitoring the inclusiveness and public participation in the land law-making process, ranking service delivery by the Ministry of Lands as well as ranking the performance of the key institutions mandated to lead reforms in the land sector. The study sampled respondents from various counties both male and female aged 21 years and over. Lands offices and specifically the four departments within the ministry of lands (i.e. Lands department, the Lands Adjudication and Settlement department, the Survey department and the Planning department) were visited with a view of collecting the relevant information. With regard to public awareness on land reforms, the study revealed that though Kenyans are generally aware of the ongoing land reforms, a majority (63.2%) of them are not aware of the deeper constitutional and policy provisions on land use, administration and management. Further, the results indicate that a majority of Kenyans view the land legislation process as having been non-inclusive, non-participatory and non-consultative. The effect of Kenyan s noninclusion was evident in the fact that a majority of Kenyans are not aware of the recently passed land laws (57.3%). It should be noted that, of the Kenyans who are aware of the existence of the new land laws, a larger percentage are still not well-versed with the specific content of each of the said Acts of Parliament. 5

6 One of the ways in which Kenyans propose to make the land reform implementation process more participatory, inclusive and consultative is through the use of civic education. The use of ICT tools such as social media and premium text messaging services were also proposed as some of the ways of disseminating information on opportunities for citizen s participation in the process. With regard to the key institutions mandated to lead land reforms, the research revealed that Kenyans are least satisfied with the Ministry of Lands and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, ranking the two lowest in the land reform process. Respondents articulated that the EACC is doing the least in investigating and prosecuting corruption cases and expressed reduced faith in the Institution with regard to bringing about reforms. Despite the poor ranking in the scorecard, the ministry has shown an upward trend when compared to previous scorecards. A greater part of the sample expressed satisfaction with the Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) and the State Law Office with regard to their mandate in land reforms. Notably, the CIC and the State Law Office have shown an upward trend in their good rankings in their efforts to bring about reforms. Just like the other reports under the Scorecard Initiative, this report reveals that a majority of Kenyans are still not aware of the Kenya Law Reform Commission or their role in the land reform implementation agenda in the country. Based on the findings of LDGI s 7 th Scorecard, we recommend a rigorous civic education campaign both at the county and national level targeted at sensitizing Kenyans on the land reforms and the contents of the new land laws. This would also entail interpreting these laws for the common Kenyan who may not quite construe the key messages being stated in laws. It s also imperative that the Government brings about reforms in the civil service and puts measures in place that would ensure the Ministry of Lands officials uphold integrity and adhere to a stringent code of conduct. In addition, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission should consider all corruption incidences and conclusively investigate all allegations of current and past corruption in the land sector. 6

7 1.0 INTRODUCTION The National Land Policy and the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 gave provisions and timelines for the enactment of the land laws that would ensure effective and efficient land administration and management in the quest for sustainable social-economic development. Recently the country enacted three crucial land laws (the Land Act, 2012, the Land Registration Act, 2012 and the National Land Commission Act, 2012) which will provide some legal framework for the implementation of land reforms. The Land Act 2012 is meant to revise, consolidate and rationalize the previous land laws as well as to provide for a legislative framework for sustainable use, administration and management of land and land-based resources. The National Land Commission Act 2012 creates the National Land Commission and the County Land Management Board as the land administration and management institutions at the national and county levels respectively. The Land Registration Act 2012 provides the legislative framework that harmonizes the several land registration regimes that existed before into a uniform land registration system while The Environment and Land Court Act 2011 was basically to establish a superior court for hearing and determining disputes relating to use, occupation, title to land. Presented herein is the detailed report of this scorecard. 7

8 1.1 About the Score Card report The LDGI scorecard initiative involves a thematic system of stakeholder consultations to track down the progress of the implementation of land reforms in Kenya. The adoption of the Constitution and National Land Policy marked the start of a long and difficult process of implementing the envisaged land reforms. In May 2012 the President assented to three land bills that are now recognized as laws. These pieces of legislation were a great milestone in land reforms. Since the start of the implementation process, LDGI has regularly provided an assessment of the progress made through the score card reports. The 7 th Scorecard aimed at investigating the public awareness of the newly enacted land laws as well as the performance of the key land reform institutions mandated to lead the reforms. The scorecard also endeavored to measure the level of public participation in the land reform process. It therefore remains a good tool to monitor the level of awareness and implementation of land reforms in Kenya. This scorecard highlighted the knowledge gap between land reform institutions and the general public understanding of the reform process hence, the need for immediate commencement of civic education. This will aid in the implementation of the new legislations and ensure benefits to the citizenry. 1.2 OBJECTIVES The main objective of this scorecard was to assess the level of public awareness of the new land laws and to track the progress of the key land reform institutions in the implementation of land reforms under the new constitution. The specific objectives were; 1) To assess the stakeholder perception on the performance of the key land reform institutions in the reform implementation process. 2) To assess citizens satisfaction with the services offered by the land administration offices in the country. 3) To assess stakeholder inclusion, participation and consultation in the legislative process of enacting new land laws. 8

9 2 FINDINGS This section uses tables and charts to present the study findings as generated by SPSS It also defines the data sources and methodology used for data collection. 2.1 DATA SOURCES The data collection exercise was conducted between 28/05/2012 and 18/06/2012 in thirty two lands offices across twenty seven counties 1. A total of six hundred and ninety six respondents were interviewed. 2.2 RESPONDENTS DETAILS AND INTERACTION WITH LANDS OFFICES Gender of the Respondents The study found out that the land sector is a male dominated field marred with a lot of gender disparity with males making more visits to the lands offices than women. Only 15.2% of the six hundred and ninety six respondents were women, as shown in Figure 2.1 below Figure 2.1: Gender Male Female 15% 85% 1 The counties were Kiambu, Murang a, Nyeri, Kilifi, Mombasa, Taita Taveta, Embu, Isiolo, Kitui, Makueni, Meru, Nairobi, Kisii, Kisumu, Migori, Kajiado, Laikipia, Nakuru, Uasin Gishu, Bungoma, Kakamega, Machakos, Vihiga, Kirinyaga, Nyandarua, Homa Bay, Narok, and Kwale. 9

10 2.2.2 Age brackets of respondents In terms of age, approximately one third of the respondents who visited the lands offices were aged between years with the age bracket of below twenty years represented by a mere 0.1%. Figure 2.2: Age by Category 35 % Below 20yrs 21-30yrs 31-40yrs 41-50yrs 51-60yrs >60yrs Level of education The study found out that at least 97% of the respondents have achieved a primary level and above with a significant small margin of 3 %with no level of education at all. Most of the respondents however, had completed secondary school education as shown in Figure 2.3 below. 10

11 Figure 2.3: Level of Education None Primary Secondary Tertiary University Post Graduate 3% 3% 13% 21% 27% 33% Visits to the lands offices The Ministry of Lands offer several services to the public though different departments- Lands, Land Adjudication and Settlement, Survey and Physical Planning. Out of the six hundred and ninety six respondents only twenty eight of them had never had any dealings with the lands offices in the past. The Lands Department recorded the highest number of visits with four hundred and ninety five respondents out of the six hundred and sixty eight respondents having had dealings with it while the Physical Planning Department had the lowest turnover of visitors as shown in Table 2.1 below. 11

12 Percent Table 2.1: Frequency of Visits to the Lands Departments Departments visited in the Ministry of Frequency Lands offices Percentage Lands Land Adjudication & Settlement Survey Planning Figure 2.4 shows that majority of the respondents had made multiple visits to the lands offices with 36.5% of them having had visited the offices more than ten times with 48.6% of the respondents had gone to seek the same service as shown in Figure 2.5 below. This may be an indicator of the timeliness of service delivery being poor with a part of the respondents particularly in the grassroots being the most affected by this situation. Figure 2.4: No of Visits to the Lands Office times 4-6 times 7-9 times 10 and above No. times visited 12

13 Figure 2.5: Types of dealings in the Land Office Land search Purchase/Transfer Land rent enquiry Dispute resolution Sub-division Others 2% 12% 14% 34% 11% 27% Service Delivery Indicators Given the dissatisfaction levels that Kenyans have continually shown with the regard to service delivery in various Land offices, LDGI has continually sought to know what the drivers of the dissatisfaction are. The survey assessed the level of satisfaction from the respondents in respect to the following aspects; Ease of accessing information Cost of transacting/ getting Services Timelessness in carrying out transactions Incidences of corruption Security of the titles deeds they hold Ease of dispute resolution On the ease with which they accessed information from the lands offices most respondents said that it was generally difficult to obtain information from the lands offices as shown in Figure 2.6 below. The bulk of the respondents ranked the access of information as either difficult or very 13

14 difficult (47.9%) while only 25.5% ranked information access in lands offices as easy or very easy. Notably, some responses gave the impression that this may well depend on the frequency of using the said offices, implying that first time visitors to lands offices may find it difficult to access information. Figure 2.6: Ease of accessing information in the Land Registries I don't know Very Easy Easy Fair Difficult Very dfficult When asked about the cost of services 43.4% of the respondents felt that the cost of services were just affordable implying a general satisfaction with the charges set by the authorities as shown in Figure 2.7 below. However the respondents were not satisfied with the speed of service delivery as most of them feel that the process is very slow as shown in Figure 2.8 below with a majority of the 63.7% ranking timeliness in service delivery as slow or very slow and only 13.7% ranking it as timely or very timely. The timeliness of transaction was also partly attributed to one s frequency of interacting with lands offices, which was in itself and indicator of favouritism within the lands offices. 14

15 percent percent Figure 2.7: Cost of transacting or getting services Figure 2.8: Timeliness in carrying out transactions I don't know Very Timely Timely Fair Slow Very Slow 15

16 percent percent The respondents had mixed feelings on the incidences of corruption in their dealings with the lands offices whereby of 44% reporting high and very high levels of corruption while 33.7% of the respondents felt that the corruption incidences were low while 22.3% had no idea of the levels of corruption as shown in Figure 2.9 below. Corruption remains extensive within land offices and serves as a wake-up call to the Government to speed up reforms, not only in the lands sector but in the public service as well. Adherence to a strict code of conduct and dire consequences for those indicted with graft cases is mandatory in stamping out corruption in land administration and management. With respect to land ownership, 47.4% of the respondents felt secure with their titles while only 22.4% expressed doubts on the same showing strong confidence in the ownership of land as shown in Figure 2.9 below. Figure 2.9: Incidences of Corruption and Security with Title Deed I Very don't high know High Low Very Low

17 percent Figure 2.10: Ease of Dispute Resolution I don't know Very Easy Easy Fair Difficult Very Difficult As shown in Figure 2.10 above, majority of the respondents- 41.4%- were not aware of the ease with which disputes were resolved in the land offices, while 36.1% felt that the process of resolving disputes was rather difficult. Further, 17% felt that the process of resolving disputes was fair and 5.9 % felt that the process was easy. This was an indicator of poor services with majority of the respondents who have undergone the dispute resolution process with the lands adjudication and settlements department ranking it as difficult or very difficult. This calls for specific efforts to be directed towards facilitation and encouraging of more innovative and friendly dispute resolution mechanisms like negotiation, arbitration, and mediation. 2.3 PERCEPTION ON THE LAND REFORM IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS Awareness of Land Reforms Since Kenyans are generally aware of the land reforms this score card sought to evaluate the inclusivity of the ongoing reform implementation process. This is informed by the fact that if indeed the reforms are addressing common concerns, they should to a large extent allow for the 17

18 inclusion of all views through a participatory and consultative process. Indeed, the Constitution of Kenya and the National Land Policy (NLP) require citizen consultation and participation in the legislative process and in the land reform process respectively. Out of all the respondents interviewed, 63.2% were aware of the ongoing implementation of the land reforms while 36.8% were unaware of the land reforms as shown in Figure 2.11 below. Majority of the respondents were not familiar with the contents of the Chapter Five of the Constitution of Kenya on Land and Environment and the Sessional Paper No. 003 of 2009 on the National Land Policy as shown in Figure 2.12 and Figure 2.13 respectively. These findings indicate a lack of awareness among the public on the laws and policy instruments that govern land administration and management in the country. The Government and non-state land actors should steer a campaign geared towards educating Kenyans on the importance of knowing the land laws, particularly relating to land administration and management. It is imperative that the government involves the mwananchi not only in the law making process but in the implementation as well. Figure 2.11: Awareness of the Proposed Land Reforms No Yes 18

19 Figure 2.12: Familiarity with the Chapter Five of the Constitution No Yes Figure 2.13: Awareness of the contents of the Sessional Paper 3 of NLP 19

20 No Yes Inclusiveness of the Land Law Making Process When asked whether the process of making the new land laws has been inclusive, a massive 59.6% of the respondents felt that this process had not been inclusive at all with 22.8% being of the contrary opinion while 17.5% did not know. This scenario showed limited commitment by the reform organs in ensuring the legislation process is both interactive and consultative. Though the Government made substantial efforts in making consultations with Kenyans, it would appear that there was some bias in the manner of selecting representatives for consultative forums, with some respondents claiming such forums are dictated by a few specific persons. Furthermore, the consultations at times lose perspective and become an avenue for representatives to express their personal grievances rather than work towards formulating the land-laws. In their view on how the process could be made inclusive the respondents suggested civic education especially at the grass roots while others felt that there was a need to create awareness on the land laws as shown in Figure 2.14 below. 20

21 Percentage Figure 2.14: Views on how to make the process of making Laws more inclusive Awareness of recently passed land laws With the reform process that has been ongoing in the country, the President of the Republic of Kenya recently assented to a new set of land laws that would be instrumental in bringing change in management and administration of land use. The specific laws were; Land Act, 2012 Land Registration Act, 2012 National Land Commission Act, 2012 Environment and Land Act,2011 A slight difference was noticeable in the awareness of these laws whereby 57.3% of the respondents were not aware of them while 42.7% said they were aware as shown in Figure 2.15 below; but on whether they knew the specific contents of each of the new land laws, most of the respondents were completely not aware of the details of each individual Act as shown in Figure 21

22 2.16 below. These laws also created some institutions 2 that would oversee the implementation of the reform process. The study revealed that though Kenyans are aware of the land reform process and the new land laws that have come into place, a majority are still not aware of the content of these laws and how they relate to them in terms of land administration and management. In the spirit the new constitution there is need for the government to initiate a proper civic education campaign to inform Kenyans on the institutions created by the new land laws, their functions and their jurisdiction. The study findings reveal that 21% of the respondents were aware of these new institutions while 79% were not as shown in Figure 2.17 below. 2 The National Land Commission, The Environment and Land Court, The County Land Management Board. 22

23 Percent Figure 2.15: Awareness of the Land Laws Aware 43% Not Aware 57% Figure 2.16: Awareness of the contents of the land laws Very aware Aware Moderately aware Not aware 23

24 Figure 2.17: Awareness of the new institutions Yes 21% No 79% 2.4 INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE IN THE LAND REFORM PROCESS In the land reform process, there are several government agencies and institutions that are mandated by either the constitution or by the national land policy to spearhead the land reform process. The survey sought to gauge public perceptions on the performance of these institutions. As shown in the table below The CIC and the state law office had a higher rank on satisfactory at 36.9% and 31.3% respectively and the EACC at 50.7% was ranked highest on not satisfactory followed by the ministry of lands at 34.2% as shown of Table 2.2 below. 24

25 Table 2.2: Institutional performance in the land reform process Not I don t Moderately Institution Satisfactory Satisfactory know satisfactory Ministry of lands Parliament CIC State law office Kenya Law Reform Commission EACC Trend Analysis of Performance of Land Reform Institutions Ministry of Lands This is one of key land reform institution and especially Land Reform Transformation Unit within Ministry of Lands whose purpose is to facilitate the reform process, collect views from the stakeholders and lead in the implementation of the reforms. In the recent survey, 21% of the respondents felt the performance of MOL was satisfactory, 26.9% were moderately satisfied, 34.2% felt it was non-satisfactory and 18.10% said they did not know as shown in Figure 2.18 below. However, the level of dissatisfaction among respondents is on a downward trend with the number of respondents rating the ministry as satisfactory and moderately satisfactory in their efforts to bring about land reforms gradually increasing. 25

26 Percent Figure 2.18: Performance of the Ministry of Lands Satisfactory Non - satisfactory I don't know Moderately satisfied Mar'11 June'11 Aug'11 Feb'12 May'12 Jun'12 Survey data, July 2012 The level of satisfaction on LRTU has been seen to be decreasing since early this year however there is an increase in the level of satisfaction as from February 12 to June 12 this might be due to the passing of the land bills into laws, which increased the public confidence in the LRTU Parliament Parliament is one of the Land reform institutions that is mandated with consolidation and rationalization of the existing land laws as well as enacting laws to actualize land reforms proposed in the constitution and the National Land Policy. 25% of the respondents felt the performance of parliament was satisfactory, % moderately satisfied, 35% non-satisfactory and 8.6% said they are do not know as shown in Figure 2.19 below. Drawing comparisons from previous scorecards, parliament is seen to be improving on its mandate in ensuring reforms in the lands sector (through revising and consolidating the existing laws and enacting new laws). This can be attributed to the recent enactment of The Land Act, 2012, The Land Registration Act, 2012, and The National Land Commission Act, 2012 which showed commitment by Parliament to effectuate land reforms in the country. Nevertheless, the number of respondents ranking parliament as non-satisfactory have remained more than those ranking it as satisfactory. This may be due to the fact that being an election year, Parliament may have passed the bills in a bid to appear active without being critical in analyzing 26

27 Percent the Laws when they were bills. For instance, the National Land Commission, as per the National Land Commission Act, 2012 is given a majorly advisory role and less of an decision making role. Figure 2.19: Performance of the Parliament Satisfactory Non - satisfactory I don't know Moderately satisfied Mar'11 June'11 Aug'11 Feb'12 May'12 Jun'12 Survey data, July Commission on implementation of the constitution (CIC) The Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) has taken a key role in the implementation of land reforms in the country which are part of the constitution. It smajor functions are to monitor, facilitate and oversee development of legislations to be presented to parliament for implementing the constitution. It s also mandated to report on the progress of implementation and on any impediments to the implementation process.36.9% of the respondents were satisfied with its performance, 12.6% were dissatisfied, 19.3% were moderately satisfied while 31.2% did not know as shown in Figure 2.20 below. The CIC remains highly ranked in the reforms agenda with only 10% ranking them as poor performers in this 27

28 Percent respect. Over time, the Kenyans have become less satisfied with the CIC with regard to their role in effecting land reforms as they have recently become less active in overseeing and ensuring the implementation of the new land laws. This situation is evident also from the increasing number of respondents who are not aware of the institution or the role they play in the land reforms agenda. Another observation that supported this was the decrease in the number respondents who ranked the CIC as satisfactory. Figure 2.20: Performance of CIC Satisfactory Non - satisfactory I don't know Moderately satisfied June'11 Aug'11 Feb'12 May'12 Jun'12 Survey data, July The state law office (Office of the Attorney General) The State Law Office plays a key role in drafting legislation as well as providing legal advice to the executive arm of the government. Given that the implementation of land reforms will also entail legislative formulation, this office has a key role in the land reform implementation process. As can be seen from the Figure 2.21 below, 31.3% of the respondents felt that its performance was satisfactory, 18.1% were moderately satisfied, 14.9% were not satisfied while 34.9% said they don t know. The State Law Office is generally doing well with regard to land reforms as is evident from the increase in the fraction of respondents ranking this institution as satisfactory. This is further attested by the decline in the number of respondents ranking it as 28

29 Percent non-satisfactory. Notably, the number of respondents unaware of the State Law Office or their role in the land reform process has increased. Figure 2.21: Performance of the State Law Office Satisfactory Non - satisfactory I don't know Moderately satisfied June'11 Aug'11 Feb'12 May'12 Jun'12 Survey data, July Kenya law Reform Commission The KLRC is mandated with the review of all the laws in Kenya to ensure systematic development and reform. Majority of the respondents were not aware of the functions, of the Kenya law reform commission at 57.9%, 19.1% of the respondents were satisfied with its performance, 12.9% were moderately satisfied and 10.1% were not satisfied as shown in Figure 2.22 below. The KLRC is generally doing poorly, with the percentage of respondents unaware of the institution and their role in land reforms greatly increasing since February 12. However, the number of respondents who ranked the KLRC as non-satisfactory has decreased recently. 29

30 Percent Figure 2.22: Performance of the Kenya law Reform Commission Satisfactory Non - satisfactory I don't know Moderately satisfied June'11 Aug'11 Feb'12 May'12 Jun'12 Survey data, July Ethics and Anticorruption Commission-EACC This was established by article 79 of the constitution and succeeded the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC). It is mandated to investigate all corruption cased in the country and recommend them for prosecution to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Given the massive levels of corruption that has been experienced in the land sector including in the Ministry of Lands itself, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has a role to carry out investigation and recommend prosecution. A large proportion 50.7% of the respondents were not satisfied with the services offered EACC, 18.1% were satisfied, 13.9% as shown in Figure 2.23 below. When evaluating the performance of the EACC over time, it was evident that less Kenyans rate the institution highly in terms of working towards land reforms. The number of respondents ranking the institution has greatly decreased, with the number of respondents ranking it as nonsatisfactory gradually increasing since June 11. This may partly be attributed to the increase in land cases that aren t brought to a close soon enough. 30

31 Percent Figure 2.23: Performance of the Ethics and Anticorruption Commission-EACC Satisfactory Non - satisfactory I don't know Moderately satisfied June'11 Aug'11 Feb'12 May'12 Jun'12 Survey data, July

32 3.1 CONCLUSIONS 3 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Public awareness of the new land laws The study revealed that Kenyans were generally aware of the new land laws but on the specific contents of each of the laws, majority of them were completely uninformed. In addition, they were also not aware of the institutions created by the new land law possibly because of lack of awareness of the reform process Performance of the key institutions Most of the respondents were satisfied with the work being done by the CIC and the State Law Office with regard to the role they have played so far in the implementation of the land reforms. Ministry of Lands and the EACC attained the least ranks in terms of public satisfaction while Kenya Law Reform Commission and its roles in the reform process were not well known by the respondents Inclusiveness of the reform process Most of the respondents felt that the reform process was not adequately inclusive as provided for in the current constitution and expressed their wishes for the process to be more inclusive by provision conducting more aggressive civic education and awareness creation campaigns and promotion of citizen participation Service delivery Generally the respondents were not satisfied with the quality of services offered at the Ministry of Land offices. This was attributed to the slow rate of carrying out transactions, high levels of corruption, difficulty in accessing information as well as the difficulty in resolving disputes. On the positive side, respondents were satisfied with the fees charged for the services rendered and felt secure with the titles they hold. 3.2 RECOMMENDATIONS It can be deduced that an intensive civic education campaign should launched both at the national and county levels to educate Kenyans on the land reform process and the land laws. In this way they will be able to effectively participate in the process. The contents of these laws should be written in simple language that can be easily interpreted by a lay person. This should 32

33 be supplemented by a thorough media campaign to raise the awareness levels for instance, the vernacular FM stations are believed to reach out to and educate the common mwananchi. The Authorities should also make use of the current technological advancements and employ use of ICT such as social media, and premium text messaging services to reach out especially to the youth and to the techno- savvy Kenyans. For improved service delivery the Government should carry out reforms in the civil service to ensure the Ministry of Lands officials uphold integrity and are adherent to strict code of conduct. The EACC must closely monitor corruption incidences within the ministry and conclusively investigate any arising allegations of graft. Consequently, the Ministry of Lands should embrace current technologies and upgrade its infrastructure to more up-to-date systems, such as Geographic Information Systems. The systems currently in use are obsolete and may be a cause of the delays in service delivery in lands offices. A modern cadastre system should enhance efficiency and accuracy in the ministry s operations and in the long run reduce the number of disputes regarding land. A computerized system should also ensure faster data retrieval. 33