The Auditor General has exposed a major failure in Kenya’s Land Settlement Fund, established over a decade ago to address the nation’s landlessness crisis. According to the 2024 audit report, the fund has spent a staggering Ksh1.6 billion, yet failed to deliver any meaningful resettlement outcomes.
The Land Settlement Fund, launched in 2012, was intended to purchase and allocate land to displaced and landless Kenyans, but it has fallen short of its core objective. Auditor General Nancy Gathungu highlighted that despite the significant spending, no Kenyan has been resettled on land purchased through the fund.
“Despite the substantial expenditure, no Kenyan has been resettled on the land acquired using these funds,” Gathungu said. “As a result, the objectives for which the parcels were acquired and the expected value for money have not been realized.”
The audit findings have spotlighted several land parcels, bought at significant cost, that remain unused and unproductive. One glaring example is the Kisima Njoro property in Nakuru County, a 1,112-acre farm bought in 2012 for Ksh396.9 million to resettle victims of the 2007/08 post-election violence. Twelve years later, no beneficiary has been allocated any land.
“At the time of the audit in November 2024, the land had not been surveyed or subdivided, and the beneficiaries had not been settled,” Gathungu reported.
This failure extends beyond Nakuru. In Kilifi County, the Mikanjuni Farm, purchased in 2020 for Ksh377 million, stands vacant, despite a verified list of beneficiaries.
Similarly, only a portion of the Mazrui Farm, bought in 2022 for Ksh445.4 million, has been distributed. The Kadza Ndani plot in Mombasa, purchased for Ksh378 million, is also unoccupied, leaving the informal settlers it was meant to house still waiting.
The delays have left thousands of Kenyans, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), squatters, and families living in extreme poverty, trapped in a state of uncertainty. Gathungu emphasized that the continued failure to settle these individuals “undermines justice for the displaced” and “deepens generational poverty” within landless communities.
The audit also criticizes the Land Settlement Fund’s management for neglecting past recommendations and lacking proper accountability. “The issues remain unresolved, and management did not provide an explanation for the failure to implement recommendations,” the report states.
Moreover, the audit flagged Ksh6.6 billion in outstanding loans, with an additional Ksh5 billion in accrued interest. Gathungu cautioned that the fund’s management lacks a clear policy for evaluating and managing these accounts.
