Statements from the Minister of Lands, Mr James Orengo, are a cause for hope, that Kenya finally has a chance to deal with some aspects of the land crisis.

The Lands minister's announcement that all land leases granted before May 1909, long before Kenya became a British colony, will be cancelled and that the government will do an audit of all the land it owns before issuing new letters of allotment is welcome.

Addressing historical injustices requires a lot of courage and this should be done cautiously so that it does not trigger an economic backlash.

In addressing the issues, Mr Orengo should resist the urge to deal with it in a populist manner. The law on leased land is clear: 99 years for urban plots and 999 years for agricultural land.

What is undeniable is that distribution of land in colonial Kenya was inherently flawed and there is urgent need to redress the issue.

That will be the first step in addressing the colonial injustices and historical distortions that saw individuals acquire huge tracts of land, turning thousands of citizens into squatters.

It is not clear how much land is freehold and how much is leasehold.

These are the issues that Orengo will instantly face at the ministry whose records have for years been tampered with.

There is need to look again at the current land tenure system in the country and decide whether to vest land ownership on the State or whether this colonial misnomer should be done away with.

While there are calls for the adoption of development policies that take cognisance of the cultural, social and economic needs of every Kenyan, getting a middle path will not be easy, especially with the vested interests of our political class.

The hard part is therefore to balance all this legitimate interests and ensure that one, Kenya does not go the Zimbabwe way, and two, while ensuring that the economy is not affected, citizens feel that their interests and concerns have been looked at and they do not feel more disenfranchised.

But most importantly, we believe that if the Executive can give the minister of Lands support, and politicians restrain themselves from politicising the issue, and the minister actually decides to be that rare Kenyan politician who decides to do some good for the country, some good can be attained.

The minister is certainly on the right track and it is time we addressed those colonial distortions on our land.