Formulating a Sectoral Approach to Urban Land Policy:

Kenya has not had a single and clearly defined and codified National Land Policy since independence (Ministry of Lands, 2007). In the interim, a complex set of land laws has evolved, some of which are conflicting, resulting in an overly complex and inefficient land administration and management system. This land governance legacy is no longer appropriate for Kenya and land issues have raised themselves in many forms; deterioration in land quality, squatting and landlessness, disinheritance of some groups and individuals, urban squalor, under-utilisation and abandonment of agricultural land, tenure insecurity and most recently conflict following the national elections in December 2007. In May 2007 a draft National Land Policy was published following widespread participation of stakeholders and the policy will most likely to be presented before Parliament for approval in 2009. The policy promises sustainable and productive management of land based resources, transparent and cost effective administration of land, sound conservation and protection of ecologically sensitive areas, discouraging land practices discriminatory to women, encouraging communities t