This archive report was first published on 3 August 2019.
On Friday, President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law the Irrigation Bill and the Land Value (Amendment) Bill at State House, Nairobi. The bills aim to enhance food security and proper land resource utilization.
According to the President, the new laws are designed to streamline the development, management, and regulation of irrigation, as well as make land rates, rent, stamp duty, and compensation predictable and rational.
"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," President Kenyatta said.
The new law mandates NIDA to develop and improve irrigation infrastructure for national or public schemes, as well as 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 aims 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 bills were presented to the President for signature by Solicitor General Kennedy Ogeto, accompanied by the Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi, Senate counterpart Ken Lusaka, National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale, and Leader of Majority in the Senate Kipchumba Murkomen.
