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Six State agencies owe land owners whose parcels have been compulsorily acquired by the government to pave way for the construction of roads and other projects a whopping Sh56 billion.

National Land Commission (NLC) said the money is for 123 projects spread across the country that were initiated by the agencies and is supposed to compensate Project Affected Persons (PAPs).

The affected agencies include Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), Kenya Urban Roads (KURA) Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERRA), Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) Kenya Port Authority (KPA) and Kenya Railways Authority (KRC).

Out of the Sh56 billion, Sh43 billion is from KeNHA, Sh1.2 billion is from KURA, Sh500 million is from KERRA and Sh11 billion is from KRC.

NLC chair Gershom Otachi regretted that although most of the said funds have not been received by the commission, the projects completed by the acquiring entity.

The concluded projects include Nairobi Expressway, Thika Road, Siaya-Ruambwa road, Mwatate-Taveta road, Ejinja-Bumula road, Thogoto-Gikambura road, Iten-Kapsowar road, Limo Hospital-Illula road and Nairobi Northern Bypass.

Paid compensation

He said the six entities have remitted to the commission Sh83.4 billion for compensation, out of which the commission has disbursed and paid Sh79.6 billion.

Said Otachi: “The commission is yet to receive approximately Sh56 billion from the acquiring entities to compensate the affected persons who surrendered their lands for development of various projects spread across the country.”

He added: “Most of these projects whose funds have not been received by the commissions have since been completed by the acquiring entity.”

With regards to specific  roads such as the Sh17 billion Nairobi Western Project, the unremitted amount to pay PAPs is Sh1.3 billion  out of the total requirement of Sh1.9 billion, the Nairobi Expressway has unremitted amount of Sh10.3 billion yet the project costs is Sh18.2 billion, the Kibwezi-Mutomo road project the unremitted amount is Sh1.6 billion as the commission has only received Sh344.4 million out of the total requirement of Sh1.9 billion.

For the James Gichuru-Rironi road project, the committee is yet to receive Sh2.2 billion to compensate affected persons as they have been sent Sh10.4 billion out of the required Sh12.6 billion, the Kenol Sagana Marua road project, the commission is yet to receive Sh2.4 billion out of the total requirement of Sh5 billion.

Inspection ongoing

On the Mombasa Gate Bridge that is divided into two—Mainland and the Island—the commission said on the Island section, inspection is still ongoing while the Mainland section is yet to start and thus the commission has yet to issue any awards since the project is in the initial stages.

Accompanied by the commission chief executive Kabale Tache and other top officials, the commission explained it is holding Sh3.95 billion  meant for compensation of affected persons.

Otachi said they are holding the monies as the payments of some of the PAPs are at various stages while on other instances they are facing various challenges including dispute of ownership of projects, land succession cases, ongoing court cases, as well as incomplete or unavailable documentation relating to the affected parcels.

He said: “The commission has always compensated PAPs whose funds have been received from acquiring entities within the shortest period safe for outstanding legal and administrative challenges that make the payment not payable immediately. The commission is continuously engaging the non-payable PAPs and other stakeholders such as chiefs, village elders, elected officials including use of alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism with the aim of resolving disputes.”

And although he admitted that there are delays in compensating affected persons, he regretted that most of the acquired land tracing back to the 1970s is yet to be vested to the acquiring entity be it National or county government.

This, he said, means that there are individuals and private institutions holding titles where public roads, airports, dams, railways and other facilities were built or located. Although since 2013, the government has acquired about 50,000 parcels of land estimated at 35,000 hectares, the commission estimates that it would cost the government about Sh5 billion to carry out vesting and secure the acquired land for the government.

He said: “Given that the acquired land is still in the names of individuals or private entities, the said parties are free to transact land. This state of affairs calls for immediate action which includes the acquiring entities or the National Treasury to remit to the commissions funds to carry out this important but overlooked final step in the acquisition process.”

Tache while defending the commission saying that they ensure that PAPs are paid immediately  they receive any money, she explained that their son they release as low as Sh1 million is because of inadequate compensation.

She said: “On why we sometimes  release Sh1 million is that the compensation may delay because of lack of funds, and at times you find a person that is supposed to be compensated is ill and may need to go for treatment, and so we are forced to write to KeNHA to release certain amount to support such cases even if they don’t release the whole amount.”

Finance Director Ben Cherutich regretted that most of the PAPs have died without receiving their monies due to slow release of the funds. “Most of them have died having not received their funds because of budgetary issues. As you know the government is working on a tight budget.”