Pastoral women demand land title deeds from State to protect their rights

Women from pastoral communities have urged the government to make it easier for them to obtain official land titles.

The women, living on unregistered communal lands, want the government to compensate them directly for mega projects instead of channelling the money through county governments.

They claimed that they have been unable to receive their fair share of compensation due to the lack of formal land ownership documents.

Speaking during the 9th edition of the Indigenous Women Council meeting in Laikipia County, the women lamented that, under the current arrangements, the national government has disbursed funds to devolved units for community lands that have yet to be registered as per the Community Land Act 2016.

According to the Executive Director of Samburu Women Trust, Jane Meriwas, pastoral communities in Kenya have long relied on communal land tenure systems, with grazing areas and water sources shared among members. However, this informal arrangement provides little protection against encroachment by outside interests.

"There are significant challenges regarding our natural resources, land ownership, and land management as communities transition from ranches to communal ownership. There is still a gap when it comes to women being included as registered members of these communal land ownership structures," she said.

She added that without legal ownership documents, these women are left uncompensated and with little recourse when their ancestral lands are taken over for infrastructure, mining, or other initiatives.

"When the government or private companies want to build something on our land, we have no power to negotiate or get fair compensation. The land belongs to the community, but we don't have the title deeds to prove it," she said.

Meriwas added that women in pastoral communities are the backbone of the pastoral economy, but they remain marginalized and powerless regarding their land rights.

"The lack of land titles leaves us with no choice but to accept whatever terms are offered. Our animals and our land are our lives. We need to be able to defend that, or our whole way of life is at risk. The government must act to protect us," she said.

Sitiyan Leparsanti, the director of Wong'an Women Initiative from Marsabit County, said that channeling funds through the devolved units for communities living on communal lands denies them fair compensation when the State implements mega projects such as LAPPSET, mega-dams, roads, and high-voltage power transmission.

"Any compensation payments should go directly to the affected community so they can manage their own resources. No money should be given to the county government; it must be paid directly to the beneficiaries," she said.

She added that for the compensation process to be transparent, it is crucial to provide capacity building and raise awareness to ensure that no member of the pastoral community is left out or overlooked when compensation is distributed.

"The community, not politicians, should be in charge of deciding how local resources are used and who gets compensated. Politicians come and go, but the community is there to stay. We want to be the ones making decisions about our own resources, not having those decisions made for us by politicians," she said.

According to Mary Komen, a member of the Sengwer community in Elgeyo Marakwet, they are an indigenous community without formal land titles. Unfortunately, the government has evicted them from the Mau Forest without proper consultation.

"We are currently in the rainy season, but the government has begun demolishing our houses and evicting us from the Mau Forest without proper notice. As women, we are the most affected, as our husbands have run away with the cattle, leaving us to look after our children. We have nowhere else to go; the Mau Forest is our home," she said.

National Land Commission Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tache Kabale (pictured) said that the government is scaling up the number of women involved in key decisions on managing community lands in pastoral areas.

"The process of registering community lands is currently underway. We are ensuring that women's participation in owning these community lands is increased. At the same time, we have made it mandatory for women to be involved in the land acquisition process," she said.

She added that involving women in land ownership is aimed at enabling them to secure land rights while encouraging active participation in community land management.

"We have about 67 requests to transition ranches to community lands, with five fully registered," she said.