Kenya

Land rights in Kenya

Major land governance problems Kenya is facing

Land governance in Kenya is characterized by an unequal distribution of land, coupled with corruption and a complicated administration system, which together resulted in widespread land tenure insecurity and generated continuous conflicts and tension.

Over the past decade or so, the government has undertaken a number of institutional and legal reforms on land governance to address these problems, building on the progressive principles of the 2010 Constitution which seeks to devolve the control over land to its users.

The development and approval of the new Land Laws in 2012 and 2016 were expected to govern the proposed reform, but their implementation has proved weak and contentious, and unresolved problems still persist. Land is not being redistributed to any large extent, and women are particularly affected as they are often excluded by the on-going regularisation. At the same time, the individual private titling system does not address the need of communal land use, preventing communities from enjoying their collective rights.

Institutional rivalries and duplications of mandates continue existing and land related conflicts and insecurity still remain a bitter reality for most of the population.