“Community Land” in Kenya: Policy Making, Social Mobilization, and Struggle Over Legal Entitlement

Independent Kenya failed to recognize customary interests in land as possessing equal force as statutory derived rights. Issues related to land rights are perceived as  root causes of conflicts occurring in the 1990s and 2000s. The 2010 Constitution has embodied the fundaments of land reforms; it has acknowledged “communities” as legally entitled to hold land. Paper studies decision-making processes via a socio-anthropological approach showing how it contributes to understanding the issues at stake and the politics surrounding the design of new legislation around “community land”. Documents the manner in which local actors participate in, interpret, divert, or exploit policy debates ongoing at the national level.