This archive report was first published on 8 September 2019.
Published on September 8, 2019, a new law aims to end land speculation in Kenya, which has driven up the cost of infrastructure projects. The Land Value (Amendment) Act, 2019, sets new conditions for compensation, including a requirement that landowners must have occupied the land for more than two years prior to acquisition to be eligible for increased compensation.
According to the law, landowners will not be compensated if the increase in land value is due to the intended use or development of the land, such as building a road, railway, or dam. Additionally, increased value due to improvements made to the land after the publication of the Gazette notice will also lead to disqualification.
The law also introduces alternative forms of compensation, including allocation of an alternative piece of land of the same value, issuance of a government bond, or a stake in a government entity. The compensation process is expected to take less than a year, with a land value index to be developed within six months to evaluate compensation.
President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the Bill into law in August, noting that it is intended to ease the acquisition and access to land for public infrastructure projects. Analysts believe that the protracted land compensation process has hindered Kenya's dream of becoming an industrialized, middle-income economy by 2030.
