Aspects Of Customary Land Tenure Rights In Kenya

Abstract

This paper argues that the imposition of Western-style land tenure system into Kenya has not killed the spirit of the customary tenure. Instead, the customary system only went underground where it continued to grow despite the overlay of statutory law that was designed to replace it. That resilience and persistence is evident in several ways; for example, available literature indicates that many communities in Kenya continue to implement customary law in a way that indicates that customary tenure provides better solution to societal problems than the western statute laws. Consequently, many communities in Kenya continue to rely on customary tenure methods to solve land disputes as they claim that western-based courts are expensive, cumbersome and the judiciary system can be compromised. This paper therefore examines the current status of customary tenure among the Kenyan communities and how it performs visa vi vis the western-based tenure systems. The paper concludes that customary tenure still provides the only meaningful framework for the organization of social and economic livelihoods in Africa; and should therefore not be extinguished but instead be restructured to fit into modern economic regimes of the 21st Century.