Colonial Legacy and Land Conflict in Kenya: a Case Study of the Rift Valley Province

Abstract

This dissertation has tried to unearth the many land conflicts and land disputes that have engulfed our country, Kenya. However, despite the many attempts to resolve them, it has not been possible and is likely to take long before a full solution is sought. The study observed that these land conflicts are numerous ranging from those that emanate from colonial injustices to the African lot, to the most contemporary ones like evictions due to development projects like roads construction, mining and many others. The actors in these land conflicts revealed by the study range from the poor landless and squatters to the wealthy and politically correct lot. While noting that these conflicts have had many shortcomings, this paper seeks to analyze these problems and looking for possible solutions. While understanding the study, descriptive research design was used. Data was collected from primary and secondary sources. Primary data was from the local residents in the so called ‘Hot spots’ like Kuresoi district. The research used nonprobability and in extreme cases sampling techniques. This data was then analyzed to come up with the intended fact finding with regards to the conceptual framework. The study is informed by legal positivism and shows that there have not been good policies to protect the general public agaipst the politically correct as regards to maters of land. i Therefore, much of the land has gone to the rich while a big percentage of the Kenyan population remains landless. The paper therefore concludes that passing of proper land policies which are all inclusive will go a long way to reducing, if not doing away with land conflicts and land disputes in Kenya