Land In Transition: A Historical Perspective And Analysis Of Tenure Reform In Kenya.
Abstract
This paper traces the path and development of land tenure reform in Kenya from
customary tenure to individualized titles to land. It examines the features of
customary tenure systems generally and those of statutory systems and argues that
some of the perceived problems of customary tenure systems are result from
difficulties of land use rather than land rights and that individualized rights is not
necessarily advantageous in all cases and that where land reform programmes are
effected by the Government, they should not be viewed as a one-off process but as a
part of a land rights continuum. This is particularly evidenced by the provisions of
the Land Control (1967) Act which attempts to control dealings in registered land but which
ends up protecting social customary interests. Family interests still largely exercise
control over dealings in agricultural land in Kenya. Land tenure reform through
adjudication and registration has only managed to move land from the holding of the
wider kinship group to be held by the close family members. As families increase in
size so will the land sub-division, necessitating further land adjudication and
registration.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Research Reports [210]
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