Our Kenya

Land Rights Campaigns

3 min read

Multiple organizations and movements have worked on Mjikenda land rights issues, seeking to address the historical land alienation that remains the central political grievance of coastal communities. These campaigns operate at community, national, and international levels, using various strategies including legal advocacy, community organizing, and political lobbying.

The National Land Commission

Kenya's 2010 constitution established the National Land Commission (NLC) to address historical land injustices and to oversee land management. The NLC has received numerous complaints from Mjikenda communities regarding historical land grabbing, colonial era seizures, and contemporary land disputes. The NLC has conducted investigations and issued reports on coastal land issues.

However, the NLC's capacity to enforce restitution has been limited. The commission lacks the legal authority to overturn property sales, to forcibly redistribute land, or to reverse historical Title Deeds. Instead, it can make recommendations to the government, which has limited incentive to pursue land restitution that would antagonize current landholders.

The Community Land Act (2016)

The Community Land Act of 2016 provides a legal mechanism for communities to register collective ownership of ancestral lands. The act theoretically allows Mjikenda and other communities to have their customary communal land recognized and registered as community land, creating legal protection against privatization and alienation.

However, implementation of the Community Land Act has been slow. Few Mjikenda communities have successfully navigated the complex bureaucratic process to register community land. Some communities have initiated the process but have encountered delays, competing claims, and limited administrative support.

Multiple legal advocacy organizations have worked on Mjikenda and coastal land rights. These organizations provide legal assistance to communities seeking to defend their land claims, they conduct research on coastal land issues, and they advocate for policy changes to address land injustices.

Community-Based Land Rights Movements

Mjikenda communities themselves have organized campaigns to reclaim ancestral lands, to resist further encroachment, and to demand government recognition of community land claims. These movements have used various tactics: occupation of disputed lands, legal challenges to Title Deeds, petitions to government, and political lobbying.

Some communities have successfully defended portions of their ancestral lands through collective action and legal strategies. Others have achieved limited success in the face of powerful landlords, government indifference, and limited legal remedies.

International Support and Advocacy

International human rights organizations and development NGOs have provided support to Mjikenda land rights campaigns, offering legal expertise, funding, and international advocacy. International attention to coastal land issues has increased in recent years, though it remains limited compared to attention to land issues in other regions of Kenya.

Contemporary Challenges

Mjikenda land rights campaigns face ongoing challenges from the power imbalance between Mjikenda communities and established landholders, from government reluctance to overturn colonial-era property arrangements, and from the limited legal mechanisms available for land restitution. Climate change and population pressure add urgency to land security concerns, as increasing land scarcity makes land competition more intense.

Despite these challenges, land rights campaigns remain central to Mjikenda political organizing and to coastal political movements broadly.

See Also

Sources

  1. Republic of Kenya (2016). "Community Land Act." Kenya Gazette.

  2. National Land Commission. "Coastal Land Investigations Report." nlc.or.ke

  3. FIDA Kenya. "Community Land Rights in Kenya." fidakenya.org

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