Five months after Lang’ata Road Primary School students, parents and friends brought the issue of school land grabbing to international and national spotlight, the National Land Commission and nine child rights organizations today launched national guidelines for schools to apply for title-deeds. 

Also check out this new video by Kibera News Network about this issue!

However, informal schools within the settlements like Kibera Slum, which make up 96% of the schools there, will not benefit from this directive to acquire title deeds since they lie on government land until the land ownership issue is permanently sorted out.

Speaking at the event, the National Lands Commission Vice-Chairperson Mrs. Abigael Bagaya noted,

“Since the Langata incident, the Government has taken action to secure schools across the country. The Commission has received 5000 applications from including Lang’ata Road Primary School. We have received complaints of land grabs from 350 schools. It is for this reason, we launch these national guidelines. We promise to issue all titles within 60 days of receipt.”

Also speaking at the event, Elimu Yetu Coalition Coordinator Janet Muthoni said,

“The Right to Play and the Right to Education is provided in the key international conventions and the Constitution of Kenya. The Government must revoke the title deeds for the Lang’ata Road Primary School from the private developer. The Government needs to appoint or empower an alternative to the interdicted Registrar Sarah Mwenda. The vacuum caused by her absence is causing a delay in meeting the Presidential directive to the 5,000 schools awaiting tittle-deeds.”

Also present were the public interest campaigners Boaz Waruku and Irungu Housghton arrested in the January 2015 incident, Irungu, SID Associate Director said,

“The courage of the children of Lang’ata Road has inspired a nation. Since January, there have been over thirty reclamations of schools and other public lands by the Government and active citizens. As we celebrate the African Day of the Child tomorrow on June 16 we honour their courage and call for all citizens and leaders to protect places of learning.”

Guide to Securing title deeds for schools:

Step 1- The school heads submit an application for a tittle deed to the Secretary, County Land Management Board

Step 2- The County Land Management Board (CLMB) will process the application to ensure it meets all requirements.

Step 3- CLMB approves the application and submits it to National Land Commission (NLC) for issuance of the letter of allotment.

Step 4- Pay administration fee for processing the title deed.

Step 5- NLC prepares the school’s lease document and submits to the Chief Land Registrar.

Step 6- The Chief Land Registrar registers the lease and issues a tittle deed to the school.

How you can report a case of Land-grabbing?

Step 1: Document the name of the school, plot number, county, total schools acreage, acreage grabbed, persons/agencies who have grabbed land and what they are using it for currently.

Step 2: Report the matter to the nearest police station and obtain an Occurrence Book (OB) number.

Step 3: You can report the information and OB number to a number of agencies and copy us. See (www.shuleyangu.co.ke)

By Joshua Ogure, Kibera News Network.