By Betty Luke
Isiolo’s Chari ward community has kick-started land registration process and picked 15 members to the Community Land Management Committee (CLMC) that will oversee the entire exercise.
The committee will manage the day-to-day affairs of the community’s land and natural resources and engage neighbouring communities to establish exact existing boundaries to avoid conflicts in the future.
Local elder Osman Ahmed said the exercise was timely as it came at a time when the pastoral communities were experiencing a myriad of challenges including boundary disputes with their neighbours as well as land grabbing by investors interested in conservation and other investment opportunities.
“Our land has been under the custody of the county government, thereby denying us an opportunity to fully own and manage it. We hope that this will offer us an opportunity to register our land and be issued with legal ownership documents by the state,” he said.
The exercise, supported by Forum for Indigenous Resource Management (FIRM), Pastoralists People’s Initiative (PPI), Pastoralists Women for Health (PWHE) in partnership with the Ministry of Land and the County Government saw five women elected into the committee.
The Community Land Act 2016 paved the way for the historically marginalized communities to register their communal land to enable them manage the resource that they depend on for livelihood.
FIRM Executive Director Hambule Baleisa decried inadequate awareness by a majority of the indigenous communities, saying it was only through documentation that they would legally own their land.
The gaps, the official said, exposed residents to property rights violations.
“The majority of these communities are taken advantage of because they lack information. Mega multi-million projects are run on their land but the only benefit they get is relief food. Such cannot be equated to the value of the land that they solely depend on for livelihood,” said Mr Baleisa.
The initiative,he added, was part of the organization’s efforts to help over 50 communities across the country secure their land rights as well as address conflict issues brought about by contested boundaries.
Citing the persistent insecurity crisis at Kom-Durte mining site in Chari, he said the initiative also sought to bring together communities living within the border to live in harmony.
“Herders from Samburu, Marsabit and Isiolo counties often fight at Kom because of unclear boundaries. I feel having well established boundaries will help address conflict,” he added.
PPI Executive Director Margret Super reiterated the need for women inclusion in land management to ensure they are part of the decision making as well as safeguarding property rights.
Ms Super maintained that time had come for women in pastoralist’s communities to take up land management tasks and be at the frontline in advocating for peace and harmony within their communities.
“Gone are the days when we believed land and animals belong to a man. Women are now enlightened and they understand that they are just like their male counterparts and therefore allowed to own land and other properties . They must be included,” she said.
She maintained that electing five women into the committee was a clear testament of men’s belief in women leadership.
The committee members are expected to map their boundaries with clear evidence to help in drafting of the inventories.
The organizations hope also to support communities in Laisamis, Karare and Loglogo in Marsabit County to come up with their committees starting in January next year.
