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The Chief guest, Hon. Nixon Korir, principal Secretary, State department of Lands and physical acknowledged that indeed the transition process has been slow and inadequately resourced. He commits to channel resources to implementing the community land Act and secure tenure rights for communities in Kenya.

The launched report highlighted the following:

Slow progress in the transition of undissolved group ranches to community land

The transition of group ranches to community land has been slow. As of May 2023, 7 years after the enactment of the Community land act,  only 46 out of 315 group ranches had fully transitioned. This represents only 14% of the undissolved group ranches in Kenya.

The main barriers to progress included conflicts among group members (39.7%), financial constraints (22.5%), lack of information on the transition processes (20.6%), and registration challenges (17.2%).

Despite the slow progress, the report reveals the significant impact the transition process has on tenure security, democratizing governance structures, and community involvement in decision-making.

The report makes practical recommendations to fast-track the transition while ensuring inclusivity and equality for all community members as follows:

• Increased Resourcing of community land registration: The Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing, and Urban Development should allocate sufficient human and financial resources to support the transition process.
• Inclusive Statutory Forms: Review existing statutory forms, including the Community Land Act, CLA 2, and CLA 3, to include parameters such as gender, age, and physical disability, ensuring inclusivity in the transition process.
• Enhanced Coordination: Improve coordination among various actors, particularly County Governments and the National Land Commission.
• Sensitization Campaigns: County Governments should conduct continuous sensitization and awareness campaigns at the county and local levels to educate community members, leaders, and land officials about the transition process.

Call to Action: We have to get it right!

Understanding the significance of expediting the transition process for communities living on undissolved group ranches, while ensuring inclusivity and equality in the registration process, join us in advocating for:

• Adequate Resourcing for community land registration process

• Review of all statutory forms in the community land registration to include parameters like gender, age, and physical disability.

• Enhanced Coordination among all Actors in the registration process.

• Ensure Gender Inclusivity in the registration process.

Together, we can turn the recommendations of our research report into reality.

To download the full report click this link.

The post New report launched with the National Land Commission appeared first on Namati.

The Customary Land Rights and National Land Commission Acts will, among other things:

• Grant all local communities the right to Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) over all industrial projects on their lands;
• Ban industrial development, including mining, timber, and agribusiness, in old-growth forests and other ecologically sensitive areas;
• Incorporate public environmental license conditions into binding legal agreements between communities and companies; and
• Establish local land use committees to make decisions about how community lands are managed, and mandate that those committees are at least 30% women.

“To our knowledge, there is not a legal regime anywhere, in either hemisphere, that grants such robust rights to communities facing environmental harm,” said Sonkita Conteh, Director of Namati Sierra Leone and co-drafter of the bills.[1][2]

Vivek Maru, Namati’s CEO, said that countries worldwide need to follow the West African nation’s lead.

“Whether it is in Sierra Leone, Brazil, or the United States, the causes and consequences of climate change and environmental destruction are concentrated in communities with less wealth and less power and that face discrimination. To tackle the climate crisis and open a pathway to sustainable development, countries must grant communities facing harm the right to determine what happens in the places they live. Sierra Leone has done so with this historic legislation. Other countries should follow.”

At least 20% of Sierra Leone’s arable land is currently leased to foreign businesses for mining, large-scale agriculture, and other development ventures.[3] “Negotiations between investors and the communities whose land they seek are fraught with deep power imbalances and undermined by weak regulations,” said Conteh. “The results can be devastating — for people and for the planet.”

Momoh Bango, a farmer and resident of Subuya community in Sierra Leone’s Southern Province, explained:

“When an American and Philippine company wanted our land for a pineapple plantation, they negotiated only with our Paramount Chief. We didn’t even see the lease. They took our land and cleared part of our forest. They promised us scholarships, schools, and jobs, but it has been five years and those promises still have not been met.

“I’m so happy that our rights as landowning families have been fully respected under these laws. The power to manage and make decisions relating to our land has been given to us through their passage.”

Over the past decade, Namati Sierra Leone has worked with communities from across the country whose land has been taken or destroyed without their consent, typically by mines and mono-cropped plantations. “Not one of those communities opposes development per se,” said Conteh. “They have merely asked for development on terms that are fair.”

“After using existing — and often imperfect — legislation to protect their environment and enforce their land rights, these rural communities helped shape new laws that would work for them. Hundreds of people showed up to consultations to input on the bills’ provisions. And when the legislative progress stalled, they organized to push them through.”

Notes to Editors

• [1] In the handful of places that codify the right to Free Prior Informed Consent, for example, the right is typically limited to Indigenous peoples, and even then it’s often watered down to ‘Free Prior Informed Consultation and typically excludes mining projects.
• [2] Sonkita Conteh, Director of Namati Sierra Leone, and Eleanor Thompson, Deputy Director of Namati Sierra Leone, drafted the two bills in their private capacity as lawyers.
• [3] Action for Large-Scale Land Acquisition Transparency (ALLAT) reported that between 2009 and the end of 2012, foreign agribusiness investors had secured 50-year leases with possible extensions to 21.4 percent of the country’s total arable land. This does not include leases for mining operations, forestry, or other ventures.
• The Customary Land Rights and National Land Commission bills were introduced to Parliament on October 21st, 2021 by Dr. Turad Senesie, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Country Planning. They were passed by unanimous votes in parliament on August 8th, 2022.
• To learn more about land and environmental injustices in Sierra Leone, and how communities are remedying them with the support of Namati paralegals, watch this 11-minute documentary or review the stories and blogs on Namati’s website.

Contact Information
For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:
McKinley Charles, Director of Communications, Namati
mckinleycharles@namati.org | Mobile / WhatsApp: +254 794 677 868

The post Sierra Leone enacts unprecedented laws related to land, climate, and sustainable development appeared first on Namati.

Read the full article here.

The post The New York Times – New Laws of the Land: Sierra Leone Reshapes Environmental Battleground appeared first on Namati.

Passed by unanimous votes, the Customary Land Rights and National Land Commission Acts will, among other things:

• Grant all local communities the right to Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) over all industrial projects on their lands.
• Ban industrial development, including mining, timber, and agribusiness, in old-growth forests and other ecologically sensitive areas.
• Incorporate public environmental license conditions into binding legal agreements between communities and companies.
• Establish local land use committees to make decisions about how community lands are managed, and mandate that those committees are at least 30% women.

“To our knowledge, there is not a legal regime anywhere, in either hemisphere, that grants such robust rights to communities facing environmental harm,” said Sonkita Conteh, Director of Namati Sierra Leone. [1]

At least 20% of Sierra Leone’s arable land is currently leased to foreign businesses for mining, large-scale agriculture, and other development ventures. [2] “Negotiations between investors and the communities whose land they seek are fraught with deep power imbalances and are undermined by weak regulations,” said Conteh. “The results can be devastating — for the people and the planet.”

Momoh Bango, a farmer and resident of the Subuya community in Sierra Leone’s Southern Province, explained:

“When an American and Philippine company wanted our land for a pineapple plantation, they negotiated only with our Paramount Chief. We didn’t even see the lease. They took our land and cleared part of our forest. They promised us scholarships, schools, and jobs, but it has been five years and those promises still have not been met.

I’m so happy that our rights as landowning families have been fully respected without any discrimination under these laws. The power to manage and make decisions relating to our land has been given to us through their passage.”

Two members of Namati Sierra Leone’s team drafted the bills in their personal capacity but their progressive content and passage can largely be accredited to communities like Subuya, said Conteh.

“After using existing — and often imperfect — laws to protect their environment and enforce their land rights, these rural communities helped to shape new laws that would work for them. Hundreds of people from across the country showed up to consultations to input on the bills’ provisions. And when the legislative progress stalled, they organized to push them through.” 

Speaking on the eve of the anniversary of the U.N.’s damning report on climate change, Namati’s CEO, Vivek Maru, said that countries worldwide need to follow Sierra Leone’s lead.

“Whether it is in Sierra Leone, Brazil, or the United States, the causes and consequences of climate change and environmental destruction are concentrated in communities with less wealth and less power, and in communities that face discrimination. To tackle the climate crisis, we need to confront this injustice. That means giving communities facing harm the power to protect themselves and play a leadership role in building a sustainable economy.”

Notes: 

• [1] In the handful of places that codify the right to Free Prior Informed Consent, for example, the right is typically limited to Indigenous Peoples, and even then it’s often watered down to ‘Free Prior Informed Consultation.’  
• [2] In 2013, Action for Large-Scale Land Acquisition Transparency (ALLAT) reported that between 2009 and the end of 2012, foreign agribusiness investors had secured 50-year leases with possible extensions to 21.4 percent of the country’s total arable land. This does not include leases for mining operations, forestry, or other ventures. In Sierra Leone, once a bill is passed by Parliament, the president will officially sign it into law. President Bio is expected to assent to both bills in the coming days.
• The bills were introduced to Parliament on October 21st, 2021 by Dr. Turad Senesie, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Country Planning.
  

Media Enquiries:
For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:

• McKinley Charles
  Director of Communications, Namati
  Email: mckinleycharles@namati.org
  Mobile / WhatsApp: +254 794 677 868

The post Sierra Leone passes globally unprecedented legislation related to climate and the environment appeared first on Namati.

From January to December, Namati and our partners supported 25,000+ people in 6 countries to address injustices involving land, environment, healthcare, and citizenship. Together, we achieved remedies that directly improved the lives of 300,000+ people, and systemic changes that affected millions more.

We invite you to explore the stories behind these facts and figures in our annual impact report. 

In these pages, you’ll also discover how the Legal Empowerment Network drove our movement for justice forward by fostering deep learning among members across borders and by co-launching a global fund with the goal of investing $100 million in grassroots justice efforts worldwide.

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