Community property in Kenya: Risks and opportunities

The attached presentation was made at a 'Community Forum on Limiting threats to community land security in Kenya’, held in Nairobi between the 14th and 15th June 2018.

The meeting brought together 33 representatives, mostly from forest dwelling and pastoralist communities, but also supporting CSOs. Forest dwellers and pastoralists had come together in the constitution making process and ensured key provisions such as Article 63.2.d.ii.

Perhaps the key reason for coming together now is because of the need to ensure that the regulations for the Community Land Act are finalised, published and effective. In the introduction one forest dweller representative stated very clearly that:

 

“We are here because no community has title, and there is no willingness from those in authority to recognise our lands. We are birds of a feather. We learned from experience during the constitution making that we need to come together, listen to what each of us is doing in our small capacity, and see how we can put our energies together.”

 

At the forum communities shared their experiences, Katiba Institute presented on the constitution and on court cases, and experts outlined what is needed to build community capacity and prepare for registering lands. The Interlaken group also presented on what a good investor would be looking for (this was also re-interpreted as outlining what a bad investor would not want): 

1. Communities with clear vision, consensus and representative leadership
2. Communities with a clear sense of their rights at national and international level