This archive report was first published on 2 August 2019.
On August 2, 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law two bills aimed at improving food security and proper utilization of the land resource.
The President had earlier assented to the Irrigation Bill, and today, he signed into law the Land Value (Amendment) Bill, both of 2019.
The two laws seek to streamline the development, management, and regulation of irrigation and make land rates, rent, stamp duty, and compensation predictable, rational, and not prone to subjective evaluations.
The Irrigation Act is intended to support sustainable food production by establishing the National Irrigation Development Authority (NIDA) and outlining the roles of national and county governments in facilitating irrigation activities in the country.
The NIDA has been mandated to develop and improve irrigation infrastructure for national or public schemes and provide irrigation support services to private medium and smallholder projects in collaboration with county governments.
County governments are also empowered to establish irrigation development units to meet the irrigation needs of individual counties.
The Land Value (Amendment) Act is intended to ease the acquisition and access to land for the implementation of public infrastructure projects by streamlining land rates, rent, stamp duty, and compensation processes.
The bill was presented to the President for signature by Solicitor General Kennedy Ogeto, accompanied by the Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi, his Senate counterpart Ken Lusaka, National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale, and Leader of Majority in the Senate Kipchumba Murkomen.
