Dear Colleagues s15

Dear Colleagues,

The theme of this issue is women and land and the role of “activista” in revitalizing women collectives.

In the first week of October 2015, the news which dominated Kenya’s media was about the Community Land Bill 2015. To be precise on the 7th of October, Kenya’s dominant trending topic in twitter was the Community Land Bill. This is after 20 Members of Parliament from Coastal Kenya and 10 from Pastoralist Community held press conferences separately to support and challenge some provisions of the Bill in day long meetings held in Mombasa and Nairobi respectively. These meetings were both convened by a civil society coalition on land law reforms in partnership with Action Aid International Kenya (AAIK). But one would be quick to ask why should AAIK engage on the Community Land Bill legislative process?

The Community land Bill seeks to transfer all land currently held in trust by County Governments to communities. However it should be noted that most forms of community land tenure systems in Kenya are replete with discriminatory practices against women. Any form of discrimination against women is a violation of human rights, unconstitutional and is an injustice which AAIK is committed to work with partners and communities to challenge its route causes. The present land tenure systems in Kenya tend to emphasize the extinguishing of customary land tenure system with individual tenure systems and title deeds which limit opportunities for women in the land market. In Kenya women account for just 5% of registered land holders and yet they contribute over 80% of the agricultural labor force. A further 64% of subsistence women farmers produce approximately 60% of farm derived income, yet are deprived in customary tenure rights particularly on agricultural land whose economic value is largely realized through their efforts.

Culture and customs continue to support registration and inheritance of land rights to males, a prejudice that have served to perpetuate inter-generational inequities in property rights and social wellbeing. There is even some conflict between Constitutional provisions on gender equality vis-à-vis customary practices that discriminate women even when implementing the law on succession particularly where widows or female dependants lay claim on matrimonial property or family property of a deceased husband or a father respectively. The current County Land Boards largely transact interests that institutionalize patriarchy in the ownership and control of land by virtue of how most members of these institutions have been culturally socialized with inherent prejudices against women owning land. Women in Kenya are sparingly represented in these institutions that deal with land management and administration. Even with growing emphasis in law on joint ownership of matrimonial and family property by women and girls respectively, the registration of land in the name of male head of household undermines the constitutional principles of gender equity in terms of owning, controlling and accessing productive resources such as land. By the design of Kenya’s patriarchal system which sadly is not necessarily different from that of Asia and most parts of Africa , few women have land registered in their names or in a family title, thus are unfairly deprived from using land either individually or jointly to access financial markets and other opportunities using land as collateral.

Further their rights under communal ownership's particularly in ranches are not defined and this allows relatives of departed husbands to unjustly dispossess widows and the orphaned children rights to family land jointly held under customary land tenure system. To remedy these socially constructed prejudices against women, communities and civil society organizations among them Action Aid International Kenya have been lobbying the government to come up with a legal framework regarding customary land tenure. The Community Land Bill 2015 which is among the mandatory Bills parliament has to legislate as required by the Constitution of Kenya 2010 have provided such opportunity to correct land rights injustices against women. Due to shared and negotiated community positions with the Task Force appointed to draft the Bill by the Ministry of Land, the following provisions have now been included. In particular article 31 states in clause (3) that, “Women, men, minority, persons with disabilities and marginalized groups have the right to equal treatment in all dealings in community land, (4) A registered community shall not directly or indirectly discriminate against any member of the community on any ground including race, gender, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, age, disability, religion or culture, (5) For the avoidance of doubt, every man or woman married to a member of the community shall gain automatic membership of the community and such membership shall subsist until the spouses legally divorce and the woman remarries or the woman remarries after the death of a spouse”. While the above clauses are progressive towards women, the Bill still have very retrogressive clauses. For example Article 7(2), 15, 46 and 48 in particular vests absolute and imperial powers to the institution mandated to recognize, register, manage and administer community land without defined checks and balances. AAIK with other CSO partners will continue to engaged members of parliament to ensure community concerns are addressed through necessary amendments to the Bill. Other than our engagement in land reforms in Kenya, AAIK will continue to work with communities and Activista to build a vibrant network of women collectives to engage and benefit from the ongoing legislative reforms on community land.

In Solidarity,

Kenyatta Maitha