Parliament passes National Land Commission Amendment Bill
By Cy Muganda, August 12, 2025The National Assembly has passed the National Land Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2023, for the second time, restoring the Commission’s mandate to review historical land allocations and address related injustices.
In a statement released on its Facebook account on August 12, 2025, Parliament announced that the legislation fully accommodates President William Ruto’s earlier reservations and establishes a five-year window for the Commission to review grants and dispositions of public land issued before August 27, 2010.
“The amendment restores the Commission’s mandate to review historical land allocations and address injustices, while introducing safeguards and time limits,” the statement reads.
According to Parliament, under the amendments, the National Land Commission (NLC) will have the option to petition Parliament for an extension beyond the five-year deadline, with all determinations to be published in the Kenya Gazette and potentially registered in the High Court.
“Clause 3 empowers the Commission to investigate historical land injustice complaints and recommend redress, but this provision will automatically lapse after five years,” the statement adds.
MPs reactions
Speaking during the session, Lands Committee Chair Joshua Nyamoko said the changes mainly provided clarity to the Commission’s operations.
“There was nothing major, including Clause Two on the five-year limit. We can still revisit and see whether we are able to give that extension,” Nyamoko told the House.
Deputy Majority Leader Owen Baya, in his submissions, welcomed the reforms, stating that they would revive stalled land reviews affecting various regions across the country.
“Let the people of the Coast region, Western, Nyanza, and Nairobi, who for a long time have suffered historical land injustices, now get justice because we have given them the law and the power to do it,” Baya said, adding that Northern Kenya faces similar grievances.
Addressing the House, Emurua Dikirr MP Johana Ng’eno framed the debate in broader historical terms, linking the land reforms to Kenya’s independence struggle.
“We fought for independence to get economic independence, political independence, and to get back our lands. Some regions only got political independence but have been denied economic independence and their land,” Ng’eno stated.
Concerns raised
Mathare Anthony Oluoch, however, raised concerns about the broader implications of the amendments for property rights, the economy, and the banking sector.
“People who have already enjoyed proprietary rights of a property, especially people with freehold, must be cognisant of the implications… where titles are held as security and collateral,” Oluoch cautioned.
He emphasised the importance of balancing historical justice with current property rights, noting that land rights should not be arbitrarily restricted by time while stressing the need for certainty of titles.
“The sunset clause was introduced so there can be certainty of legal titles as a function of the economy. Equity only assists the vigilant and not the indolent,” Oluoch explained.