7. National Land Commission (Investigation of Historical Land Injustices) Regulations, 2017

The Regulations provide procedures and modes of resolving historical land injustices (those that took place between 15th June 1895 when Kenya became a British protectorate and 27th August 2010.

Quick Link: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/act/ln/2017/258/eng@2022-12-31

· Clause 7 provides that a person may lodge a claim through the prescribed form, a letter, a memorandum or even oral submission to the National Land Commission.

· Under clause 9, the Commission can place a restriction on any land that is subject to a historical injustice claim, which means that such land would not be available for any transactions including transfer or housing development until the claims are resolved. This is important, especially given the history of illegal land alienations in Kenya’s past which means that otherwise clean title could be challenged.

· Clause 26 requires the Commission to issue its decision within 21 days of completing its investigations. Such decision containing the recommendations of the Commission is to be forwarded to respective concerned authorities for action.

· Significantly, the decisions of the Commission can and have indeed been challenged in the Environment and Land Court, within 28 days of publication of such decision. Also questioned is the binding nature of such decisions, with courts holding that such decision is only a recommendation though a weighty one.

Unless and until all historical land injustice claims are determined conclusively (including exhausting all avenues of appeals), there may not be full comfort to property developers and would-be homeowners, especially relating to land potentially tainted by historical land injustices/violations.