Hakijamii
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DEC 2010: IS GARISSA THE NEXT FRONTIER FOR LAND GRABBERS?
A mother and her young son next to her demonlished house
As we continue to celebrate the adoption of the new Constitution ( and it has very progressive provisions on land and environment) and the earlier adoption of the National Land Policy, the lords of impunity have yet to reform. Nowhere is this more evident than in Garissa town. Take the case of Mathina Location, for instance.On the 3rd of December 2010, the District Commissioner Samson Macharia arrived accompanied by one bull dozer, 3 lorries, 4 taxis and a Land Rover in which there were Administration Police officers and a group of youth. The District Commissioner informed the perplexed residents that a ring road making the boundary of Garissa town and the other area was to be constructed and he had come to mark where the road would pass and that anybody whose home fell outside the town boundary would be considered to be illegally occupying Government land and subject to eviction. No notice had been given neither was any reason given why the residents were to be evicted. He also never indicated when the exercise would begin.

On the 24th of December 2010 the District Officer, Garissa in the company of the Town's Deputy Mayor together with armed Police Officers ( Administration) in riot gear and several youth, descended on the settlement and started a systematic demolition of structures and in the process injured a number of people including women and children. The exercise was repeated on the 30th and 31st of December 2010. At the end over 145 houses were demolished and 3000 left homeless. To date no explanation has been given for this callous act. When Hakijamii visited the settlement in early January 2011 a number of women were still nursing their wounds while the rest were counting their losses and hundred forced to sleep outside. Such impunity must be vigorously fought and preparation for filing a constitutional case in court are at advanced stages. In the meantime we hope that Government officials will strictly adhere to the spirit and letter of the Constitution that prohibits forced evictions.
Some of the residents who were evicted.


November 2010: National Land Policy Workshop

On the 10th of November 2010 Hakijamii was among the many civil society organizations that attended a workshop opened by the Ministry of Lands Mr. James Orengo to discuss the legal implementation framework for the National Land Policy and the Constitution. Land has been identified as one of the main causes of tension and conflict in the country and from 2004 Hakijamii has been a member of the Legal thematic group involved in the formulation of the National Land policy that culminated in the approval of the Policy in December 2009.Currently Hakijamii is a member of the Legal Technical Working Group that is working on the relevant legislation to implement the Land Policy and the Constitution. One of the legislative agenda for the both the Land policy and the Constitution is the establishment of the National Land Commission whose main purpose is to bring a stop to the massive abuse of power that ahs characterised land administration in the country resulting into conflicts and sufferings of thousands of poor people. One of the key resolutions of the workshop was that the Bill creating the National Land Commission must be fast tracked to expedite land reforms and bring peace, stability and development.

September 2010: Eviction and Resettlement retreat

Between the 28th of September 2009 and 1st of October 2010 Hakijamii and the Ministry of Lands’ Land Reform Transformation Unit organized a retreat for the members of the Task Force that is developing the national guidelines/ legislation on forced evictions. The Task Force has been in existence since 2006 but received an impetus when the new Constitution was finally promulgamated in August 2010. The Constitution for the first time now entrenches economic and social rights including the right to housing. During the retreat that was attended by representatives from key Government Ministries, Kenya National Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International, Kenya Land Alliance Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions ( COHRE) and grassroot organizations, a final draft was agreed upon and is now being finalized to be presented to the Minister of Lands who will in turn table it before the Cabinet for approval. Once adopted, the legislation will go along away in making it very difficult for both state and non-state actors to carry evictions without following very clear and strict procedures based on international standards. The proposed legislation also provides effective remedies for victims of forced evictions. Plans are underway to initiate sustainable lobbying efforts to ensure that the legislation is passed as soon as possible.




Team of Experts draft sessional paper.

Hakijamii has continued to be a Key partner in the Land Sector Non State Actors which has been vigorously lobbying for the adoption of the National Land Policy and During the Period was part of the group that met with Key stakeholders who included Members of Parliament, Religious Leaders and Community Groups. These efforts finally resulted in the adoption of the Land Policy by Cabinet in June 2009. Hakijamii was part of the small team of experts who then proceeded to draft the sessional paper which is currently pending before parliament.


In September 2009 the Ministry of Lands and Hakijamii organised a retreat in Naivasha to discuss the work plan for the development of a National Eviction guideline which came up with a definite timeframe for the finalization of the guideline.