Why land is main cause of conflict
PHOTO | FILE Assistant Land registrar Anthony Karani (left), the National Land Commission chairman Mohamed Swazuri (right) and other officials inspect files in the strong room at the Kilifi Land Registry in April. The commission has its work cut out in streamlining land ownership after a damning report by the TJRC revealed irregularities in the sector.
What you need to know:
- Fifty per cent of claims Truth team received were about irregular allocation and grabbing of plots by politicians
Historical grievances over land are the main cause of conflicts and ethnic tension in Kenya, the Truth Commission has said.
The Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission report released on Tuesday said about 50 per cent of statements received by the commission related to or touched on claims over land.
The team said more than five million acres of land was taken away from the original inhabitants by colonialists.
“This displacement created the disagreements over land which remain the cause and driver of conflict and ethnic tension in Kenya today,” the commission said.
For many Kenyans, land is the basic, and in most cases, the only economic resource from which they eke out a livelihood. The ability to access, own, use and control land has a profound impact on Kenyans’ ability to feed and provide for their families and to establish their socio-economic and political standing in society, the report noted.
It said tensions and structural conflicts related to land have simmered in all parts of Kenya since independence and many land- related problems have degenerated into social unrest and violence.
The team led by Bethwel Kiplagat said illegal acquisition of large tracts of land from indigenous communities during the colonial period rendered many communities at the Coast and in mainland Kenya landless.
While affected communities expected redress through re-settlement, restoration of their land and compensation from the Jomo Kenyatta and subsequent post-independence administrations, the government instead alienated more land from already affected communities for the benefit of politically-privileged ethnic communities and the political elite.
“This led to deeply held resentments against specific ethnic communities who benefited from resettlement at the expense of those who believe they are the rightful owners of the land,” the commission said.
TJRC noted that addressing historical and post-independence land injustices has not been genuinely prioritised by successive governments despite the critical importance of land to the country’s economic development.
It said the Akiwumi Commission of Inquiry established in 1998 to look into the ethnic clashes related to the 1997 General Election vividly demonstrated how the skewed land allocation and ownership had fuelled ethnic tension and led to violent conflicts throughout Kenya and particularly in the Rift Valley and Coast regions.
It said land-related grievances led to the emergence of militia groups in some parts of the country.
