Mission Impossible? Implementing the Ndung’u Report

In the aftermath of the post-election crisis, the issue of land has gained increased urgency. Land reforms represent a central part of Kenya’s reform agenda and indeed, the national reconciliation agenda as negotiated by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga under the aegis of Kofi Annan in early 2008. This report examines the findings of the Ndung’u Commission, the subject of renewed debate in light of recent revelations of politicians’ and well-connected individuals’ allocations of land in the Mau Forest, one of Kenya’s largest water catchment areas, with subsequent activities causing serious damage to the environment. Revelations on the theft of public lands are contained in the draft report of the Task Force on the Mau Forest recently commissioned by the Prime Minister. This study attempts to answer a number of critical questions on the commitment to implement the recommendations of the Ndung’u report and the enforceability of these recommendations. Have there been attempts to enforce the Ndung’u recommendations, and if so, how successful have they been? The report aims to identify key challenges, to the enforcement of the Ndung’u Report recommendations and to make proposals on addressing them. AfriCOG’s approach is informed by the emerging experience of the difficulties of policy implementation. While policy makers have focused on elaborating sound policies, they have rarely thought in advance of how to bring about the policy change or analysed the obstacles to implementation in order to overcome them. It is hoped that this report will contribute to informed debate on the Ndung’u Report and the need for its implementation. This report is part of AfriCOG’s series examining the implementation of the reports of commissions of inquiry which began with a general overview in ‘Postponing the Truth: How Commissions of Inquiry are used to circumvent justice in Kenya’.