8 December 2011
editorial
The Parliamentary committee that investigated the demolitions in Nairobi has finalised its report, which recommends that the Ministry of Lands be reformed, and that slum-dwellers living near airports be resettled.
By all counts, however, the recommendations by the team are not new.
Which demonstrates the folly of forming ad hoc committees whenever there is a crisis. They only serve to assuage public anger temporarily, but offer no long-lasting solutions.
Reforming the Ministry of Lands, for example, is a matter that is well-articulated in the Constitution.
Establishing clear criteria for building approvals by local authorities has also been an old subject of public discourse.
Ultimately, the question is: has the team helped to resolve the impasse over demolitions and for that matter, land ownership in urban areas?
The answer is open to debate.
The point we are making is that long-standing issues like land ownership, approval of buildings and relocation of individuals cannot be sorted out through short-term and costly committees.
It can only be done through but well-coordinated structures complete with political goodwill.
AllAfrica – All the Time