Through the Sajili Ardhi ya Jamii Campaign, communities across Kenya urge the government to make it easier to register and get title deeds for their land. Kenya’s 2016 Community Land Act opened the door for communities to receive land titles, but only 64 out of about 1,000 have received them so far. Collectively, the communities steward 34 million hectares of land.
NAIROBI, Kenya — After a decade of little progress, Indigenous Peoples and local communities across Kenya launched a campaign today calling on the government to make good on its 2016 commitment under the Community Land Act to register and provide title deeds for their land.
The nationwide Sajili Ardhi ya Jamii Campaign is led by the people who steward their community lands — lands that collectively make up 34 million hectares. That’s about 60% of the country. The campaign advocates for urgent action to fully implement the 2016 act, which created a process for community land to be registered and for titles to be issued. So far, the act has been broadly ineffective.
The campaign’s goal: Register the land of every community by 2030.
Until now, just a fraction (64 out of about 1,000) of Kenya’s community lands have been registered. The current process is expensive and lengthy. In some cases, it can cost up to 20 million Kenyan shillings (about $154,000 U.S.) That’s a sum that is far beyond the reach of most communities, which are often politically and economically marginalized.
Without land titles, the communities are vulnerable to land grabs, unfair investor deals, climate-related crises, conflicts and displacement.
The Sajili Ardhi ya Jamii Campaign urges the government to create a faster, affordable, community-centered title and registration process. The process would:
- Enable communities to take the lead in the adjudication process by identifying and mapping land boundaries. By doing this themselves, they can safeguard natural resources, manage land proactively and negotiate equitable agreements with external parties.
- Create a mass registration process.
- Introduce amendments to the Adjudication Act,the Survey Act and the Community Land Act to address registration bottlenecks, including the high cost of adjudication.
- Issue certificates of title to all communities by 2030.
