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Land law reform in Kenya: devolution, veto players, and the limits of an institutional fix

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Listed:
  • Boone, Catherine
  • Dyzenhaus, Alex
  • Manji, Ambreena
  • Gateri, Catherine
  • Ouma, Seth
  • Owino, James Kabugu
  • Gargule, Achiba
  • Klopp, Jacqueline

Abstract

Much of the promise of the good governance agenda in African countries since the 1990s rested on reforms aimed at 'getting the institutions right', sometimes by creating regulatory agencies that would be above the fray of partisan politics. Such 'institutional fix' strategies are often frustrated because the new institutions themselves are embedded in existing state structures and power relations. The article argues that implementing Kenya's land law reforms in the 2012-2016 period illustrates this dynamic. In Kenya, democratic structures and the 2010 constitutional devolution of power to county governments created a complex institutional playing field, the contours of which shaped the course of reform. Diverse actors in both administrative and representative institutions of the state, at both the national and county levels, were empowered as 'veto players' whose consent and cooperation was required to realize the reform mandate. An analysis of land administration reform in eight Kenyan counties shows how veto players were able to slow or curtail the implementation of the new land laws. Theories of African politics that focus on informal power networks and state incapacity may miss the extent to which formal state structures and the actors empowered within them can shape the course of reform, either by thwarting the reformist thrust of new laws or by trying to harness their reformist potential.

Suggested Citation

  • Boone, Catherine & Dyzenhaus, Alex & Manji, Ambreena & Gateri, Catherine & Ouma, Seth & Owino, James Kabugu & Gargule, Achiba & Klopp, Jacqueline, 2019. "Land law reform in Kenya: devolution, veto players, and the limits of an institutional fix," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 87486, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:87486
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    Cited by:

    1. Schetter, Conrad & Mkutu, Kennedy & Müller-Koné, Marie, 2022. "Frontier NGOs: Conservancies, control, and violence in northern Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    2. Boone, Catherine & Lukalo, Fibian & Joireman, Sandra, 2021. "Promised land: settlement schemes in Kenya, 1962 to 2016," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 109307, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Díaz Baca, Manuel Francisco & Moreno Lerma, Leonardo & Triana Ángel, Natalia & Burkart, Stefan, 2024. "The relationships between land tenure, cattle production, and climate change – A systematic literature review," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    4. Shadrack Muthami Mwatu, 2022. "Institutions and export performance: firm level evidence from Kenya," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 69(4), pages 487-506, December.
    5. Hebinck†, Paul & Smith, Lothar & Aliber, Michael, 2023. "Beyond technocracy: The role of the state in rural development in the Eastern Cape, South Africa," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    6. Manara, Martina & Pani, Erica, 2023. "Institutional pluralism and pro-poor land registration: Lessons on interim property rights from urban Tanzania," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    7. Sad Dian Utomo & Irfan Ridwan Maksum & Teguh Kurniawan, 2023. "The Institutional Dynamics of Sub-District in Indonesia," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 43(1), pages 1-36, May.
    8. Dyzenhaus, Alex, 2021. "Patronage or policy? The politics of property rights formalization in Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    9. Manara, Martina & Pani, Erica, 2023. "Institutional pluralism and pro-poor land registration: lessons on interim property rights from urban Tanzania," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118651, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment

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