From Accumulation of Women and Children to “Land Grabbing”: Agrarian Kleptocracy and the Land Question in Kenya

Abstract

This lecture is about the genesis, development and consequences of land grabbing in Kenya as it relates to the land question. The land question is conceptualised as complex and dynamic; as tied to changes in marital, gender, class and ethnic relations; governance, and agricultural and economic development. The lecture uses a variety of concepts such as changes in perceptions about the landscape, land, marital relationships, power and meanings about being, and patron–client relationships, in their political economy context, to explain not only the simultaneous transformation of pre–colonial practices of polygyny and communal land tenure to monogamy and highly individualised land ownership and use. Also analysed are the consequences of colonial dual land policy, which, together with land grabbing by colonial settlers and the post–independence political elite resulted in widespread landlessness, environmental degradation, electoral despotism, ethnic/land conflicts, economic decline and agricultural crisis. These are seen as products of crises of governance. Colonial and immediate post–independence states’ attempts to resolve the land question through reforms such as the Swynnerton Plan and the Settlement Schemes are assessed and mostly found inadequate as they were primarily concerned with tenure rather than distributive aspects of the land question. The Njonjo Commission and the Ndungu Commission Reports are further assessed and found inadequate as they were limited by their terms of reference to inquire and report primarily on the legal status of public land and their illegal/irregular allocations. It is, however, concluded that the Draft National Land Policy, the provisions on land in the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, and the Land Act No 6 of 2012, if implThis lecture is about the genesis, development and consequences of land grabbing in Kenya as it relates to the land question. The land question is conceptualised as complex and dynamic; as tied to changes in marital, gender, class and ethnic relations; governance, and agricultural and economic development. The lecture uses a variety of concepts such as changes in perceptions about the landscape, land, marital relationships, power and meanings about being, and patron–client relationships, in their political economy context, to explain not only the simultaneous transformation of pre–colonial practices of polygyny and communal land tenure to monogamy and highly individualised land ownership and use. Also analysed are the consequences of colonial dual land policy, which, together with land grabbing by colonial settlers and the post–independence political elite resulted in widespread landlessness, environmental degradation, electoral despotism, ethnic/land conflicts, economic decline and agricultural crisis. These are seen as products of crises of governance. Colonial and immediate post–independence states’ attempts to resolve the land question through reforms such as the Swynnerton Plan and the Settlement Schemes are assessed and mostly found inadequate as they were primarily concerned with tenure rather than distributive aspects of the land question. The Njonjo Commission and the Ndungu Commission Reports are further assessed and found inadequate as they were limited by their terms of reference to inquire and report primarily on the legal status of public land and their illegal/irregular allocations. It is, however, concluded that the Draft National Land Policy, the provisions on land in the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, and the Land Act No 6 of 2012, if implemented, have the potential for positive resolution of the land question. They all emphasise equity and due regard for women, children and individuals with disability in land distribution, the establishment of a National Land Commission, and decentralisation of land administration.emented, have the potential for positive resolution of the land question. They all emphasise equity and due regard for women, children and individuals with disability in land distribution, the establishment of a National Land Commission, and decentralisation of land administration.