Samburu community in Isiolo petitions NLC over land injustice
Mr Nicholas Lesokoyo, a Samburu community leader from Oldonyiro Ward in Isiolo presents a historical land injustice complaint to Isiolo NLC Coordinator Paul Kasimbu (right) on August 23, 2021. The community wants thousands of acres of lane set aside by the State for the Livestock Marketing Division reverted to it.
Members of the Samburu community living in Oldonyiro, Isiolo County, have has submitted a complaint of historical land injustice to the National Land Commission (NLC), seeking to have thousands of acres of land set aside by the State as holding grounds reverted back to them.
The community expressed fears that they could lose the huge portions of land, threatening pastoralism which is their main source of livelihood, adding that the restrictions on the use of the land are affecting its development.
Led by Nicholas Lesokoyo, the community representatives submitted a copy of the complaint to the Isiolo County NLC Coordinator Paul Kasimbu.
“We want NLC to look into the issue so that we are allowed to develop the idle land,” Mr Lesokoyo said during the presentation of the complaint.
No clear guidelines
The residents said lack of clear guidelines on the use of the resource is denying them compensation when the government undertakes any project in the region.
Isiolo County Assembly Deputy Speaker David Lemantile, who is also the Oldonyiro MCA, said it is unfortunate that the land, set aside for livestock fattening, continues to lie idle while majority of the residents have no land.
“The land is not useful and should be given back to the community so that they develop it and empower themselves,” the legislator said.
Ms Jane Meriwas, of Samburu Women Trust, said with the establishment of several public amenities within the land, residents should as well be allowed to own the resource.
No land injustice claims
Reports indicate that majority of the counties in northern Kenya have not filed a single historical land injustice claim in the past four years.
The Samburu community complaint becomes the second to be filed by the county from October 2017 even as the September 21 deadline nears.
High illiteracy and lack of information on how to file the complaints on inequitable land adjudication, conflicts, natural resources and evictions have been blamed for residents’ reluctance to file the cases.
Last week, NLC Commissioner Tiya Galgalo said the agency had received 740 complaints by July 2021, a majority of them from Rift Valley, Central and Coast regions.
Ms Galgalo said the Ministry of Lands, in partnership with NLC and county governments, had rolled out the land reform agenda for 2021/2022 covering issues such as land grabbing, registration of community land and alternative dispute resolution among others.
