The Recognition of indigenous people's land rights in Kenya and the failures’ in the enforcement

Abstract

For many years’ indigenous land rights were yet to be recognized and catered for in law. Indigenous communities have faced repeated violations on their collective right to own property in particular, the right to access their lands and territories. Land is considered essential for their survival. These violations led to the consideration of indigenous people's claims during the formulation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010. Among the concerns raised by these communities are; legal recognition, identification, equality, non-discrimination, right to self-determination and the right to land resources. Recently, there have been various efforts that have been made in the form of the enactment of both international law and national law that provide for the rights of indigenous people. Despite these steps taken by the Kenyan government and the international community, there still exist reports of continued forceful evictions by the Kenyan government. This illustrates a clear indication that the enactment and promulgation of these laws is not sufficient in the realization of their rights if implementation is not executed. The study seeks to illustrate the failures in the implementation of these rights and the possible reasons for this failure.