1. R E G I S T R a T I O N O F T I T L E T O L a N D I N T H E F O R M E R S P E C I a L a R E a S O F K E N Y a by Simon Freder
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1. REGISTRATION OF TITLE TO LAND IN THE FORMER SPECIAL AREAS OF KENYA BY SIMON FREDERICK RUSSELL COLDHAM A Thesis Submitted for the Ph.D. Degree In the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies January, 1977 ProQuest Number: 11015624 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely ev e n t that the author did not send a co m p le te manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11015624 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C o d e Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 - 1346 ABSTRACT In 1956 the colonial government of Kenya embarked upon a programme of land consolidation and registration in the Native Lands, subsequently known as the Special Areas. Although the programme initially made little headway outside the Kikuyu Land Unit, it has, since Kenya became indepen dent in 1963? been presented with great vigour and now covers all but the most thinly populated areas of the country. From the outset the objec tives of the programme have been various, political, social and economic, and although it has not been warmly welcomed in all areas of Kenya, it is generally considered to have been a success. It is the aim of this thesis to examine the operation of the pro gramme and to assess its success in terms of its proclaimed objectives. While the thesis is written by a lawyer and necessarily relies to a considerable extent on traditional legal materials, the subject demands an inter disciplinary approach; it is impossible wholly to divorce legal issues from those of a political, social or economic nature. Indeed, at its most general, this is a study of the interaction of law and society, and the land consolidation and registration programme can be seen as an ambitious piece of social engineering. After an introductory chapter the process of land adjudication is examined as it was seen to operate in two areas of Kenya, one (chapter II) where individual titles were registered and one (chapter III) where group titles were registered. Chapters IV, V and VI deal with the consequences of land registration, the problems to which it has given rise and the successes which it has achieved. Finally chapter VIII looks at the land control system in Kenya, a system which is designed to further official land policies and could profoundly affect the working of the land reg istration programme. The law is stated as at December 31st, 197^- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is evident that a thesis of this kind, involving a considerable amount of fieldwork, would never be possible without the assistance of many organisations and individuals. While it would be impracticable to list all of them here, a few special debts of gratitude must be recorded. I am grateful to the Social Science Research Council for awarding me a grant to carry out my research. I am also grateful to the Central Research Fund of the University of London which provided me with a tape- recorder to assist me with my interviews. I owe a considerable debt to conversations I have had with Mr. J.C.D. Lawrance of the Overseas Development Administration and Dr. S.A. Roberts of the London School of Economics both of whom put their time and expertise generously at my disposal. Throughout Kenya I was received with warmth and friendliness and every effort was made to assist me in my research, however troublesome or time-consuming my enquiries might be. The fact that my fieldwork was so enjoyable and encountered so few difficulties can be largely attributed to my two interpreters, Mr. Lukio Owuor of East Kadianga and Mr. Eliud Mwangi of Gathinja, both of whom took great pains to make me welcome in their home areas and to help me understand the systems of land tenure that prevailed there. I owe a special debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs. Margaret Rogers of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Without her help, always generously and promptly given, and her continuous encouragement over the years, there can be no doubt that this thesis would never have been written. Finally, I should like to thank Miss Linda Nicholls who has typed this thesis. Her friendliness and efficiency in the most exacting cir cumstances have made the completion of the thesis an easier process than could ever have been contemplated. 4. TABLE OF CONTENTS . PAGE ABSTRACT 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3 TABLE OF CASES 7 TABLE OF STATUTES n TABLE OF RULES & REGULATIONS 20 LIST OF TABLES 21 MAPS 22 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION Zk 1. Historical background to the research ............. 2k 2. Research objectives ............. 3k 3. Research methods and materials .••••••••••... 37 CHAPTER II. LAND ADJUDICATION: INDIVIDUAL TITLE .............. k2 1. Introduction kZ (i) Land tenure on the Nyabondo plateau before land adjudication kZ (ii) The early history of land adjudication on the Nyabondo plateau ^9 2. The adjudication procedure 56 (i) Introduction 56 (ii) The Committee 58 (iii) The preparation of the register ................. 61 (a) General ...••••••••,.. 61 (b) Customary rights 63 (c) Absentees 77 (iv) The settlement of disputes •••••.•••••••• 79 (a) General 79 (b) Procedure 81 (c) Analysis of disputes 8^f (d) Complaints, objections and appeals ....... 97 (e) Critique 112 3- Conclusions 118 CHAPTER III. LAND ADJUDICATION: GROUP TITLE ............. 123 1. Introduction ... •••••••••••••• 123 2. The purpose of the Land (Group Representatives) Act 1968 126 PAGE (i) The history of the Act .... ......... 126 (ii) The provisions of the Act • ••......... 131 3. The Working of the Land (Group Representatives) Act 1968 .............. 133 (i) Introduction •••••••••...... 133 (ii) The establishment of group ranches .•••••••••••.•• 136 (iii) Socio-economic developments in group ranches .... 150 km Conclusions ............... 15^ CHAPTER IV. THE CHALLENGE OF FIRST REGISTRATION.............. 159 1. Introduction .•••••........ 159 2. Rectification of the register ............... 163 3* Proceedings against public officers ••••••••••••••• 168 Declarations of trusts 173 5. Rights of occupation 190 (i) Introduction •••••••.. 190 (ii) Rights of occupation under customary law recorded in the adjudication register 193 (iii) Rights of occupation under customary law not recorded in the adjudicationregister ...••• 193 (iv) Rights of occupation under the Registered Land Act 1963 ............... 196 (v) Conclusions: Methods of protecting rights of occupation under customary law •••••••••••••• 20k 6. Conclusions .•••••••••••... 210 CHAPTER V. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE REGISTER .............. 213 1. Introduction ...•••••••••••. 213 2. Dispositions ofregistered land ••••••••••.•••. 213 3. Successions to registered land ...•••••••••.•• 221 (i) Unregistered successions ••.•••••••••••• 221 (ii) Succession under the Registered Land Act 1963 •••• 223 (iii) Succession under the Law of Succession Act 1972 •• 228 (iv) Testate succession ••••••...... 250 km Conclusions .•••.•...••••.. 261 CHAPTER VI. THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE LAND REFORM PROGRAMME .............. 270 1. Introduction •••.••••••••••. 270 2. The development of holdings: the role of credit....... 27k PAGE (i) General 27^ (ii) Agricultural Finance Corporation loans 278 (iii) Bank loans .•••••••••••... 28^ (iv) The nature of the security required............... 287 (v) Summary 292 3- The pattern of holdings: the role of the land market . • ........ 296 (i) General ••••••••••••••• 296 (ii) Fragmentation • ••• 297 (iii) Parcellation ...... 30^ *f. Socio-economic change in rural society .............. 317 (i) General 317 (ii) Exploitation of economic opportunities ........ 318 (iii) Changes in the socialstructure .••..•••••••••• 326 (iv) Some case studies 331 CHAPTER VII. LAND CONTROL - A POSSIBLE SOLUTION............... 337 1. Introduction .•••••••••••••• 337 2. The land controlsystem today ..••••••••••••• 3^5 (i) Introduction ........ 3^5 (ii) Composition of the boards 3^7 (iii) Procedure of the boards 350 (iv) The decisions of the boards 353 3. The avoidance of land control 368 k .Conclusion 391 CHAPTER VIII. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS............................... 39^ SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ^07 7. TABLE OF CASES PAGE I. ENGLAND Ashby v. White (1703) 5 2 Ld. Raym. 938, 92 E.R. 126 169 Biss, Re, [1903] 2 Ch. 40 188 Chowood Ltd. v. Iyall (2), [1930] 1 Ch. 4-26, affd. [1930] 2 Ch. 136 201 Dillwyn v. Llewellyn (1862), 4 De G.F. & J. 517 198 Hodgson v. Marks, [1971] Ch. 892 ..•••••••••••. 204 Hussey v. Palmer, [1972] 3 All E.R. 744 (C.A.) ..••••••...••. 182 Inwards v. Baker, [19&5] 2 Q.B. 29 •••••••••••••• 9&, 197 Ives(E.R.) Investment Ltd. v. High, [19&7] 2 Q.B. 379 ••••••••• 197 Leigh v. Jack (1879), 5 Ex.D. 264 202 Plimmer v. Wellington Corporation (1884), 9 App.Cas. 699 ..... 197 R v. Hanley Revising Barrister, [1912] 3 K.B. 518 •••••...... 165 Ranaweera v. Ramachandran, [1970] A.C. 962 (P.C.) ....... 173 Rawlinson v. Ames, [1925] Ch. 96 .••••••••.•••• 372 Steadman v. Steadman, [1974] 2 All E.R. 977 .•••••••...••. 372 Valentini v. Canali (1889), 24 Q.B.D. 166 389 Wallis's Cayton Bay Holiday Camp Ltd. v. Shell Mex & B.P. Ltd., [1973] Q.B. 94 202 Walsh v. Lonsdale (1882), 21 Ch.D. 9 •••••••••••••. 374 Wray v. Steele (1814), 2 V. & B. 388 185 II. KENYA 1. Reported Cases John Abuom v. Ogwayo Okelo (1933)? 3 C.R.R.1 ..••••••••••.. 94 Marie Ayoub and others v. Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd. and another, [1963] E.A. 619 (P.C.).... ..... ....... 189 Chemelil Sisal Estate Ltd. v. Makongi Ltd., [1967] E.A. 166 (C.A.)............................. ............. 387,388,389 K.T. Clarke trading as Shipping General Services v. Sondhi Ltd., [1963] E.A. 107 (C.A.)......... ............. 373 District Commissioner, Kiambu v. R. and o.thers, Ex Parte Ethan N.jau, [1960] E.A. 109 (C.A.).......... ............. 164,165,168 Esiroyo v. Esiroyo and another, [1973] E.A.