I want to leave a clean NLC: Lands commission boss
National Land Commission acting CEO Kabale Arero Tache, during the interview at her office in Nairobi.
What you need to know:
- Kabale Tache took the reins of National Land Commission at a time when it was tainted with corruption.
- She says they have not had adverse negative publicity during the current commission so far.
- Currently, she says, 51 per cent of the commission’s workforce is female.
On December 18, 2018, Kabale Tache took the reins of National Land Commission (NLC) which at the time was tainted with corruption.
She was appointed chief executive officer albeit in an acting capacity. But hitherto, heads the secretariat.
Then in February 2019, Prof Muhammad Swazuri-led team exited precisely leaving her at the steering wheel.
Four months into her appointment, the Director of Public Prosecutions ordered the prosecution of 24 people including ex-NLC officials and businesspeople.
The DPP said they had a case to answer in regard to fraudulent compensation for land acquired for construction of Mombasa Southern Bypass and Kipevu New Highway Container Terminal link road in 2013.
At this point, the commission was 'sick'. She made efforts to find a regimen to heal it.
“I steered the commission as the head of the secretariat without any mandate for policy matters, but effective enough to continue functioning without any controversy until the swearing-in of the (Gershom) Otachi-led team in November 2019,” she opens up during the interview in her office at NLC premises in Upper Hill.
Scrutiny and ridicule
She says: “The Otachi team, therefore, inherited an NLC that had healed substantially and completely out of public scrutiny and ridicule, silent and subdued even as it were.”
“I am happy to report that we have not had adverse negative publicity during the current commission so far. Today's image of the commission is quite admirable and commendable,” she adds.
This new development can be attributed to the strict adherence to the Public Finance and Management Act, 2012 alongside creating an effective lean organisational structure, she says.
“We have embraced a one-government approach, which has helped eliminate fraud and misappropriation of public funds, especially in land acquisition,” says Ms Tache who until her appointment was the commission’s director of human resources.
She holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Kenyatta University
Currently, she says, 51 per cent of the commission’s workforce is female.
The commission has the power to buy land on behalf of the national and county governments for development. As such it pays out huge amounts of money to acquire the asset, a duty that calls for utmost integrity.
Legal processes
As the commission’s accounting officer, how to maintain its integrity throughout her tenure, keeps her awake at night.
“We developed a 12-point due diligence checklist to ensure consistency and objectivity in the payment process. The checklist confirms compliance and adherence to the laid down legal processes,” she says in regard to efforts made to maintain the commission’s integrity.
“I want to leave the commission clean - without a mention or association to any form of corruption,” she repeats this four times during the interview that lasts more than an hour.
Well, leading a team to seamlessly deliver with such honesty is no mean feat.
So, I seek to find out her leadership style.
“It is a mixture of today's cutting-edge styles of democratic and participative leadership, whereby staff are listened to and their views put into consideration. I have an open-door policy and practice mutual respect for all,” she says.
She describes herself as a team player who often consults the commission’s chairperson, commissioners, and fellow staff.
Technical manpower
“I don’t believe in being rough and brutal to achieve results,” she asserts.
On challenges, she cites inadequate funding, lack of adequate technical manpower and expiry of Section 14 of the NLC Act, 2012 as major hindrances to the commission’s activities.
Section 14(1) states that the “Commission shall, within five years of the commencement of this Act, on its own motion or upon a complaint by the national or a county government, a community or an individual, review all grants or dispositions of public land to establish their propriety or legality.”
With the expiry of this law, she says the commission is unable to carry out a review of grants for purposes of protecting public interests.
She observes that failure by the acquiring bodies to remit funds for carrying out the final survey and vesting in the commission, has complicated its completion of land acquisition.
“The process of land acquisition cannot be complete without the vesting of the compulsorily acquired land to the government. This has not been happening and poses a risk of illegal occupation, use, and further transaction on the acquired land by unscrupulous individuals,” she says.
With studies showing women own 1.62 per cent of land in Kenya, comes a question of whether women know their constitutional right to land ownership.
Good morals
To this, Ms Tache states that when women participate in land forums, they access the right information, the power they need to fight for their rights.
To be where she is, someone special in her life fought for her; her mother
She endearingly adores her as her forever heroine.
Back in the village in Marsabit where she was born and brought up, Ms Tache’s mother insisted that she attends school. She says the matriarch has no formal education but strongly believed that education would unlock great opportunities for her.
Together with her father, a retired police officer, they instilled in her the virtues of integrity and good morals, she says.
She was married off immediately after high school but got to finish her studies earning a degree in human resources.
To all those who look up to her, she says: “The world is full of opportunities but you must keep a positive attitude and always believe in possibilities just as I am.”
