{"id":120370,"date":"2020-03-06T11:22:23","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T15:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/namati.org\/?p=120370"},"modified":"2023-01-11T11:57:57","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T15:57:57","slug":"history-in-the-making-how-communities-in-kenya-are-claiming-their-land-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/namati.org\/news-stories\/history-in-the-making-how-communities-in-kenya-are-claiming-their-land-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Video: History in the making – How rural & Indigenous communities in Kenya are claiming their land rights","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

Over 60% of Kenya\u2019s land mass is community land. The Indigenous people that live off these lands have done so for generations, and yet they\u2019ve never had the legal rights to govern them. As a result, they are vulnerable to having their land and resources grabbed for mining, agribusiness, and public infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n

But in 2016, the situation changed. Kenya adopted the Community Land Act, and for the first time in history, it was possible for communities to secure legal rights over their land.<\/p>\n

With the support of paralegals, ordinary citizens, like Matito Leruso<\/a> and Isaiah Lesurunka, led their communities to meet the requirements of the law. They spent months electing a land management committee, drafting and adopting bylaws for land governance, and creating evidence of their land claims.<\/p>\n

The government, meanwhile, did little. Three years after adopting the act, they had not granted one community the title to their lands.<\/p>\n

The communities\u2014knowing that the law was on their side\u2014decided to take action.<\/p>\n

This video is the story of their legal empowerment journey. It is a reminder to us all that when the power of law is in people\u2019s hands, justice is possible.<\/p>\n