ELC Land Division Adopts Public Participation and Stakeholder Engagement to Expedite Land Justice
Lady Justice Lucy Mbugua, Presiding Judge of the Nairobi Land Division of the Environment and Land Court (ELC), today convened the inaugural meeting of ELC Nairobi Land Justice Working Group sub-committee on Public Participation and Stakeholder Engagement to discuss ways of conducting public outreach. The engagements will help in identifying the root causes of disputes and challenges in administration of land justice and come up with innovative measures to address endemic land issues in Nairobi County. The meeting brought together representatives from the National Government Administrative Officers, AG’s office, Ministry of Lands, DCI, Nairobi County Government, DCI, NGOs among others.
Speaking during the meeting, Lady Justice Mbugua acknowledged that land issues in Nairobi are both politically sensitive and culturally complex and have been the cause of many conflicts that find their way to courts. This, she said, necessitated a multi-sectoral approach to expedite land justice through adoption of innovative, effective and appropriate approaches including AJS and Court Annexed Mediation.
Justice David Mwangi, an ELC Judge and a member of the Land Justice Working group noted that the amount of wealth held by land cases in Nairobi is enormous, and if sorted will release a lot of money to the economy and spur economic growth.
Justice Mwangi observed that the Constitution in Article 159 (2) (c) mandates the Judiciary to promote alternative forms of dispute resolution including reconciliation, mediation, arbitration and traditional dispute resolution mechanisms. He highlighted the need to equip the National Government Administrative Officers with skills to enhance their dispute resolution capacity, since they are often the first point of call whenever disputes arise in the community.
While addressing the stakeholders, ELC Judge Lady Justice Judith Omange, pointed out the need for the Working Group to adopt a more participatory, inclusive and responsive approach in resolving land disputes as envisaged under Social Transformation Through Access to Justice (STAJ) blueprint which advocates for people-centred justice.
