Property
The 2012 land statutes, replacing a fragmented colonial regime
The Land Act, Land Registration Act and National Land Commission Act of 2012 replaced several colonial-era statutes with a single framework. Land is classified as public, community or private, community land was given statutory form in 2016, and non-citizens may hold land only on leases of up to 99 years.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The Environment and Land Court has exclusive jurisdiction over land disputes; the National Land Commission administers public land.
- Deadline — Non-citizen leasehold: maximum 99 years under article 65 of the constitution
- Deadline — Registration: transfer effective on registration, which confers indefeasible title subject to overriding interests
- Deadline — Compulsory acquisition: compensation assessed by the National Land Commission before possession
Governing law
- Land Act, 2012No. 6 of 2012
- Land Registration Act, 2012No. 3 of 2012
- Community Land Act, 2016No. 27 of 2016
In practice
The 2012 reforms were mandated by the 2010 constitution and dismantled a system in which several parallel registration regimes coexisted. The most consequential innovations were the constitutional cap on foreign leasehold at 99 years, which converted existing freeholds held by non-citizens into leases, and the Community Land Act's creation of registrable community title for land previously held as trust land by county councils.