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Risks to the sanctity of community lands in Kenya. A critical assessment of new legislation with reference to forestlands

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  • Alden Wily, Liz

Abstract

Important new legislation protects community lands in Kenya. Delivery is principally dependent upon each community securing formal collective entitlement to its land. Many factors may impede this. While some are experienced in all titling programmes, others are specific to Kenya, exacerbated by low confidence in the readiness of the state to embrace new approaches to property after a century of subordination of traditional land rights. Forestlands, customarily shared by members of a community, are a likely early casualty, needlessly retained by the State. This paper focuses upon loopholes in new laws that could exclude forested lands from collective entitlement, impairing constitutional advances in the process. Ambiguity within the Constitution itself plays a role. Therefore, while lesser impediments to land justice may be remedied through clarifying regulations and parliamentary removal of offending clauses, judicial interpretation of constitutional intentions is required. This is better sought sooner than later to limit wrongful land takings and evictions of vulnerable forest communities, active until the present.

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  • Alden Wily, Liz, 2018. "Risks to the sanctity of community lands in Kenya. A critical assessment of new legislation with reference to forestlands," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 661-672.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:75:y:2018:i:c:p:661-672
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.02.006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Anthony Mushinge & Sharon Mulenga, 2016. "Legal Pluralism and Tenure Security: Exploring the Relationship between Statutory and Customary Land Tenure in Zambia," International Journal of Social Science Studies, Redfame publishing, vol. 4(3), pages 7-17, March.
    2. Liz Alden Wily, 2018. "The Community Land Act in Kenya Opportunities and Challenges for Communities," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-25, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Schürmann, Alina & Kleemann, Janina & Fürst, Christine & Teucher, Mike, 2020. "Assessing the relationship between land tenure issues and land cover changes around the Arabuko Sokoke Forest in Kenya," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    2. Jemaiyo Chabeda-Barthe & Tobias Haller, 2018. "Resilience of Traditional Livelihood Approaches Despite Forest Grabbing: Ogiek to the West of Mau Forest, Uasin Gishu County," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-22, November.
    3. Liz Alden Wily, 2018. "Collective Land Ownership in the 21st Century: Overview of Global Trends," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-26, May.
    4. Casiano Flores, Cesar & Tan, Evrim & Crompvoets, Joep, 2021. "Governance assessment of UAV implementation in Kenyan land administration system," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).

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