CHAPTER IX
TRUST LAND

Interpretation of Chapter

114 —(1) Subject to this Chapter, the following description of land are Trust land-

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(a) land which is in the Special Areas (meaning the areas of land the boundaries of which were specified in the First Schedule to the Trust Land Act as in force on 31st May, 1963), and which was on 31st May, 1963 vested in the Trust Land Board by virtue of any law or registered in the name of the Trust Land Board;

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(b) the areas of land that were known before 1st June, 1963 as Special Reserves, Temporary Special Reserves, Special Leasehold Areas and Special Settlement Areas and the boundaries of which were described respectively in the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Schedules to the Crown Lands Ordinance as in force on 31st May, 1963 communal reserves by virtue of a declaration under section 58 of that Ordinance, the areas of land referred to in section 59 of that Ordinance as in force on 31st May, 1963 and the areas of land in respect of which a permit to occupy was in force on 31st May, 1963 under section 62 of that Ordinance; and

(c) land situated outside the Nairobi Areas (as it was on 12th December, 1964) the freehold title to which is registered in the name of a county council or the freehold title to which is vested in a country council by virtue of an escheat:

Provided that Trust land does not include any estates, interests or rights in or over land situated in the Nairobi Area (as it was 12th December, 1964) that on 31st May, 1963 were registered in the name of the Trust Land Board under the former Land Registration (Special Areas) Ordinance.

(2) In this Chapter, references to a county council shall, in relation to land within the areas of jurisdiction of the Taveta Area Council, the Pokot Area Council, the Masop Area Council, the Tinderet Area Council, the Elgeyo Area Council, the Marakwet Area Council, the Baringo Area Council, the Oleguruone Local Council, the Mukogodo Area Council, the Elgon Local Council, and the Kuria Local Council, be construed as references to those councils respectively.

Trust land to vest in country councils

115 —(1) All Trust land shall vest in the county council within whose area of jurisdiction it is situated:

Provided that there shall not vest in any county council by virtue of this subsection-

(i) any body of water that immediately before 12th December, 1964 was vested in any person or authority in right of the Government of Kenya; or

(ii) any minerals or mineral oils.

(2) Each county council shall hold the Trust land vested in it for the benefit of the land and shall give effect to such rights, interests or other benefits in respect of the land as may, under the African customary law for the time being in force and applicable thereto, be vested in any tribe, group, family or individual:

Provided that no right, interest or other benefit under African customary law shall have effect for the purposes of this subsection so far as it is repugnant to any written law.

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), provision may be made by or under an Act of Parliament enabling a person to be granted a right or interest to prospect for minerals or mineral oils on any area of Trust land, or to extract minerals or mineral oils from any such area, and the county council in which the land is vested shall give effect to that right or interest accordingly:

Provided that the total period during which minerals or mineral oils may be prospected for on, or extracted from, any particular area of land by virtue of any grant or grants while the land is not set apart shall not exceed two years.

(4) Subject to this Chapter, provision may be made by or under an Act of Parliament with respect to the administration of Trust land by a county council.

Registration of individual titles to Trust land

116 —(1) A county council may, in such manner and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament, request that any law to which this subsection applies shall apply to an area of Trust land vested in that county council, and when the title to any parcel of land within that area is registered under any such law otherwise than in the name of the county council it shall cease to be Trust land.

(2) The laws to which subsection (1) applies are-

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(a) the Land Consolidation Act and the Land Adjudication Act; and

(b) any other law permitting the registration of individual titles to estates, interest or rights in or over land that, immediately before registration, is Trust land (except so far as the law permits the registration of estates, interests or rights vested in persons or authorities for whose use and occupation the land has been set apart under this Chapter).

Setting apart of Trust land by county councils

117 —(1) Subject to this subsection, an Act of Parliament land vested in that county council for use and occupation-

(a) by a public body or authority for public purposes; or

(b) for the purpose of the prospecting for or the extraction of minerals or mineral oils; or

(c) by any person or persons for a purpose which in the opinion of that county council is likely to benefit the persons ordinarily resident in that area or any other area of Trust land vested in that county council. either by reason of the use to which the area so set apart is to be put or by reason of the revenue to be derived from rent in respect thereof,

and the Act of Parliament may prescribe the manner in which and the conditions subject to which such setting apart shall be effected.

(2) Where a county council has set apart an area of land in pursuance of this section, any rights, interests or other benefits in respect of that land that were previously vested in a tribe, group, family or individual under African customary law shall be extinguished.

(3) Where a county council has set apart an area of land in pursuance of this section, it may, subject to any law, make grants or dispositions of any estate, interest or right in or over that land or any part of it to any person or authority for whose use and occupation it was set apart.

(4) No setting apart in pursuance of this section shall have effect unless provision is made by the law under which the setting apart takes place for the prompt payment of full compensation to any resident of the land set apart who--

(a) under the African customary law for the time being in force and applicable to the land, has a right to occupy any part of the land; or

(b) is, otherwise than in common with all other residents of the land, in some other way prejudicially affected by the setting apart.

(5) No right, interest or other benefit under African customary law shall have effect for the purposes of subsection (4) so far as it is repugnant to any written law.

Setting apart of Trust land for purposes of Government etc

118 —(1) Where the President is satisfied that the use and occupation of an area of Trust land is required for any of the purposes specified in subsection (2), he may, after consultation with the county council in which the land is vested, give written notice to that county council that the land is required to be set apart for use and occupation for those purposes; and the land shall then be set apart accordingly and there shall be vested in the Government of Kenya or in such other person or authority referred to in subsection (2) as may be specified in the written notice, such estates, interests or rights in or over that land or any part of it as may be specified in the written notice.

(2) The purposes for which Trust land may be set apart under this section are--

(a) the purposes of the Government of Kenya;

(b) the purposes of a body corporate established for public purposes by an Act of Parliament;

(c) the purposes of a company registered under the law relating to companies in which shares are held by or on behalf of the Government of Kenya;

(d) the purpose of the prospecting for or the extraction of minerals or mineral oils.

(3) This section shall apply to land that has already been set apart in pursuance of section 117 as it applies to other land, and in that case a setting apart under this section shall extinguish any estate, interest or right in or over the land or any part thereof that my be vested in any person or authority in consequence of the setting apart under that section, but section 75 shall apply in relation to the setting apart under this section as if were a compulsory acquisition by the Government of Kenya under an Act of Parliament of the estate, interest or right so extinguished.

(4) Where land is set apart under this section-

(a) any rights, interests or other benefits in respect of that land that were previously vested in any tribe, group, family or individual under African customary law shall be extinguished; and

(b) the Government of Kenya shall make prompt payment of full compensation for the setting apart to such persons as under section 117 (4) are entitled to compensation when land is set apart in pursuance of that section.

(5) Subject to this section, Parliament may prescribe the manner in which and the conditions subject to which a setting apart under this section shall be effected.

Land no longer required for purposes of Government  etc.

119 —Where the President is satisfied that any land that has been set apart under section 118 is no longer required for any of the purposes specified in that section, the President shall in writing so notify the county council in whose area of jurisdiction the land is situated, and thereupon the setting apart shall cease to have effect and any estate, interest or right vested in any person or authority in consequence of the setting apart shall be extinguished and (without prejudice to the subsequent making of a further setting apart under any provision of this Chapter) the land shall again be held by the county council in accordance with section 115:

Provided that, where an estate, interest or right that is vested in a person or authority other than the Government of Kenya is extinguished in pursuance of this section, section 75 (except paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) thereof) shall apply to that extinguishment as if it were a compulsory acquisition by the Government of Kenya under an Act of Parliament of the estate, interest or right so extinguished.

Escheat of rights in former Trust land

120 —(1) Where a person in whom there is vested an estate, interest or right in or over land to which this section applies dies intestate and without heirs, that estate, interest or right shall escheat to the county council in whose area of jurisdiction the land is situated.

(2) Where a company in which there is vested any estate, interest or right in or over land and to which this section applies is dissolved, then, except so far as provision is made by the law relating to companies for the vesting of that estate, interest or right in some other person or authority, it shall escheat as if it were vested in a person who dies intestate and without heirs.

(3) The land to which this section applies is the land, other than land that is situated in the Nairobi Area (as it was on 12th December, 1964), that is specified in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of section 114 (1).