Politics and ethnicity deny Isiolo land owners title deeds

Isiolo town and surrounding areas have not been adjudicated by the Lands Ministry. This means land owners do not have title deeds, and can only cling on allotment letters.

“But we have people among us who have been evicted, and the aggressors come to us with title deeds. We keep asking ourselves when the land adjudication was done. And if this new Community Land Bill will be of any help,” Zeinab Ali says.

Like other parts of the country, corruption has also played a role in Isiolo.

“I think Isiolo is the only place in the world where a chief doubles up as a surveyor and land agent. We have nowhere to turn to and the boundaries of places we thought were our homes no longer exist,” Zeinab says.

Boundaries have always been contentious. Towards the end of last year, deadly clashes between herders from Isiolo and farmers from Meru resulted in the death of six people at a disputed area along the border of Kulamawe (Isiolo) and Mutuati (Meru). Two others were injured and about 1,000 animals stolen.

ignorant of the challenges

“You see, both counties have laid claim to the Lapsset projects. This is something that has to be addressed as soon as possible before it gets out of hand,” she says. “We are now moving towards the election. This is when things get out of control.”

The Vision 2030 projects have also increased appetite for land. Speculators look to own part of what promises to be highly valuable land, ignorant of the challenges facing Isiolo.

But away from the land speculators looking to reap from government compensation, the conflict in the region has taken religious and tribal angles.

“And our leaders know this too well. There is always an us-versus-them mentality. I do not think new legislation will help solve these issues. Morality cannot be legislated,” Isiolo Sub County administrator Adan Denge says.

“For years we have been talking about our boundary with Meru County. For us, the border is defined by the person in power. Each election cycle our borders shift to favour those in power,” Albert Lemasulani of the Isiolo County Land Steering Group told The Standard on Sunday.

“And now, we feel that the indecisiveness when it comes to determining where the borders of the two counties lie is deliberate.”

He cites the Isiolo Airport which lies in Meru County.

On August 11 last year, the government published the Community Land Bill 2015, setting in motion the process by which a new statute would be realised to deal with assorted pieces of community land claimed by various communities across the country.

If the Community Land Bill is passed, all community land currently held in trust by county governments, will be registered.

Requirement

Communities, for the first time since independence will be issued with title deeds to secure and preserve their ancestral land from wanton grabbing and arbitrary allocation to individuals without the participation of the community.

However, one of the contentious issues in the Bill is the requirement for communities to form societies, private companies, trusts and co-operatives through which they can register parcels of lands for ownership.

“This can be used by outsiders with money to form societies and come to our ancestral lands and buy property,” says Joyce Nairesiayi. “If some of these things happen, the inequalities in matters land will just continue.”

Joyce says some grey areas in the proposed law will provide ways for the elite to acquire more land.

“What will we be left with if this happens?” she asks.

The Community Land Bill 2015 is among three Bills debated by stakeholders, experts and members of the National Assemblies throughout last year.

Others are Land Laws (Amendment) Bill 2015 and the Physical Planning Bill 2015.