MAKE COMMUNITY LAND POLICY PEOPLE-FRIENDLY

Since the discovery of oil in the Kenya's north, a lot has been said concerning the fate of community lands. The talk has always been shifty depending on who speaks. There have been no straight answers on the questions of ownership, administration, exploitation and exploration of these lands. 

The government's eyes seem to be trained on the wealth beneath these lands. The politicos from communities living in this vast territory have no clue of what should be done. You can't tell the difference between the masses and the leaders. If unchecked, this silence is recipe for a bumpy chaotic future.

Community land constitutes close to eighty percent of Kenya's landmass. It is sparsely populated offering the much needed space for urbanization. It is home to over seventy-five percent of Kenya's livestock. Beneath its surface are minerals of unknown value.

With all these goodies, it is imperative for all; government (national and county), leaders, policy makers, communities, business people, civil society to rethink their strategies vis-à-vis these lands.

The existing land regime calls for a total overhaul and restructuring. It is centralized and derives its powers from some invisible behemoths while pushing the real owners (communities) to the periphery on matters land. It negates the input of the people.     

A look at the recent squabbles in Kajiado and Turkana Counties arising from non-consultation and unilateral granting of exploration permits to oil companies is a pointer that our modus operandi must be changed if inclusive development is what joins us. It is time for policy makers and government functionaries to be innovative when dealing with communities.

Unnecessary chest-thumping and reliance on brute force to coerce the people will not yield any fruits. It will likely exacerbate the situation and 'prove' to the people that their land is under 'invasion'. Dealing with the challenge collectively with the people is what is badly needed to lock out quacks and agents of chaos.

There is a great need to rethink the existing community land tenure system with a view to empowering the people and giving them a legal backing to individually and collectively own their lands.

A case in point is in issuance of land titles. Should urban residents in zones gazetted as community lands be barred from applying for individual titles for their lands? For instance, can a resident of Lodwar town in Turkana County (which is gazetted as a community land) be legally empowered to hold a title for his land?

What legal safeguards are there to protect community lands from the insatiable greed of crooked government officials, business people or individual citizens? What prescribed conditions should the State observe before declaring any part of Kenya a community land? Should affected communities be consulted before such declarations are made? If yes, how?

Should communities have a say (directly or indirectly) on exploration and/or exploitation of natural resources?

It is doubtless to state that some of these legal loopholes have contributed to economic marginalization of Kenyans living in community lands. With no possessive powers, the community's hands are literally cut. They can't progress. They can't build their own economic house.

To reverse this, I think, it will be in the public good to empower county governments in whose jurisdictions fall the community lands to identify, declare and gazette urban centers so as to facilitate issuance of individual land titles.

This will encourage people to settle in urban centers thereby cementing the possessive power of the people and ease the government costs of delivering services like water, education and health. It is what is needed to give a lifeline to hitherto marginalized communities.

Twitter: @mlemukol