Digging deep into her land...story of ownership and inheritance

In pre-independence Kenya, women were not allowed to own land; however, legal reforms now allow them to have equal inheritance rights.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • Customary laws and practices continue to prohibit them from owning or inheriting land.
  • NLC acknowledges that land ownership has been heavily influenced by socio-cultural aspects, which remain the greatest hindrance on women getting access to land rights.
  • However, the country is slowly becoming more gender balanced, largely through inheritance.
  • In 2018, six sisters won equal rights to their father’s land against their two brothers in a long-standing legal dispute.
  • Wairimu Kanyiri owns a 15-acre piece of land, which she inherited from her late father and has become a renowned horticulture farmer in Molo.
  • But Florence Wairimu isn't so lucky, she has been seeking justice for her land and nearly completed home that was demolished at the dead of the night.

Ownership of land by women in Kenya has been a persistent challenge, drawing back many years even before independence. In pre-independence Kenya, women played important roles in the community, raising children and maintaining the family while working on farms.

They were, however, not allowed to own land even though they were the ones mostly working on them. Patriarchal influence became stronger with colonisation, stripping them of opportunities they once enjoyed.

After Kenya gained independence in 1963, women still could neither access land nor decide how it is utilised.  Land as a factor of production is an essential tool in ensuring poverty eradication as well as food security for households.

There is hope for the Kenyan woman as the country has undergone legal reforms to allow them have equal inheritance rights with men.

Historic win: The six sisters who fought and inherited father’s land

On July 24, 2018, a court ruling in a remote village in Kericho County caused a stir of emotions comprising of both victory and controversy. Six sisters won equal rights to their father’s land against their two brothers in a long-standing legal dispute.

The sisters from Cheborgei village in Bureti Constituency, had since 2012 been caught up in a string of legal battles against their brothers, who had challenged their right to inherit the 42 acres of the land that belonged to their father, Josel Cheruiyot Korir.

This pivotal ruling gave thousands of women, across the country, renewed hope over their individual land rights struggles. It set precedence for progressive and gender-sensitive laws and policies.

Taboo for women

Rosemary Cherono, a daughter to one of the six sisters, Racheal Korir, remembers her mother’s long struggle to get justice. It was her who convinced her mother to fight for her rights, convinced her that all children should have equal rights to their father’s land.

“When my grandfather died, I started to see the struggle that my mother had in trying to get a piece of land from their father’s estate. My mother was affected and this motivated me to step in and help her seek justice in the inheritance,” she says.

“I was more familiar with the laws regarding land inheritance and I told my mother that according to the law, children have a right to claim property left behind by their father. I helped her follow up on the legal matters alongside her,” she adds.

In 2018, a court ruling in a remote village in Kericho County caused a stir of emotions after six sisters won equal rights to their father’s land against their two brothers.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

In Kipsigis tradition, it is almost taboo for women, particularly those who are married or elderly, to place claim and inherit land from their fathers. Even after the ruling of the case in favour of the six sisters, elders in that community argued that the decision goes against the Kipsigis culture.

According to tradition, women who have been married under Kipsigis customary laws and had their dowry already paid, should not place any claim on their parental homes lest they invite curses upon their children.

“As my mother was not in a marriage at the time, she was best suited to follow up on the land matter. Her sisters, who are my aunties, were in their matrimonial homes and because of tradition they were not able to fully participate in the land dispute. However, when the court gave the ruling, all children benefited from,” says Ms Cherono.

In the initial stages of the land dispute, 73-year-old Rachel Korir was forced to move to court after several meetings with the council of elders refused to bear fruit.

Father's land

Ms Korir, who was trying to rebuild a life for herself and her eight children, had attended more than 20 meetings but was not able to convince her brothers to allow her to inherit their father’s land.

During this time, Ms Korir only wanted half an acre to settle on, but her brothers blatantly refused. At the same time, she also learned that her brothers had brought in a surveyor to formally undertake the sub-division of the land, despite a will by their father directing the two sons to share the land equally with their sisters.

“We started by seeking services from Fida-Kenya, where we were given lawyers to fight for our case in court. However, this was met with great resistance. We would hear issues such as lost files among other frustrations. But we had a great lawyer who was determined to see us get justice for our land,” Ms Cherono recalls.

Attention of the media

Soon, the case started gaining momentum and drawing attention of the media as well as other community-based organisations such as the Kenya Land Alliance.

“Through their collective support, we were able to get the justice we had long sought for. This has further opened us up to other women who are struggling just as we were,” she adds.

Ms Cherono, who is now a champion for women’s land rights in Kericho, works closely with women who have lost their rights to land by offering guidance and referring them to organisations that can help as well as educating them on land laws and policies.

Almost every day, she is approached by tens of women seeking advice, many of whom have been disinherited by their male siblings, in-laws and even their children, leaving them in a desolate state and financial turmoil.

“It is unfortunate the moment a woman loses their father or husband they are stripped of their rights and thrown to the streets. I have witnessed this in countless of women across the country and it pains me to see what they are going through,” she adds.

Thriving in agribusiness thanks to dad

Wairimu Kanyiri from Turi in Molo, Nakuru County is a living testimony of how owning land can contribute to women’s empowerment.

She owns a 15-acre piece of land, which she inherited from her late father and has become a renowned horticulture farmer in the area.

She tells The Voice that her father wrote a will before he died, which indicated all his sons and daughters were eligible to get a piece of land once he died.

He was categorical that his daughters, whether married or not, were entitled to inheriting his land.

Ms Kanyiri, 54, and a single mother, says she and her sisters never faced any resistance from their brothers since their father’s will was clear.

“The process of subdivision, application and issuance of title deeds was very smooth,” she says.

Wairimu Kanyiri from Turi in Molo owns a 15-acre piece of land, which she inherited from her late father and has become a renowned horticulture farmer in the area.

Photo credit: John Njoroge | Nation Media Group

The shrewd farmer says she will forever be thankful to her father for the land which has offered her a source of livelihood.

She specialises in potato, cabbage, peas, carrots and kales farming. She also does dairy farming and recently ventured into pig farming, to take advantage of a lot of surplus farm produce left after harvesting that usually go to waste.

It all started when she became a beneficiary of a World Bank project dubbed “Accelerating Rural Women Access to Agriculture Market and Trade”.

She tells The Voice that she plants two species of potatoes, which gives between 100 and 110 bags per acre respectively. She plants about five acres of potatoes per season.

Ms Wairimu says she sells a bag at Sh3,000 or more, depending on the prevailing market condition.

Each year, Ms Wairimu plants a maximum of 100,000 heads of cabbage plants. In a good season, she sells a cabbage from Sh50 to Sh70 while in bad times the prices go as low as Sh5 per cabbage.

Capacity building

Buyers for her produce come from Kakamega, Mombasa, Nairobi and Nakuru counties.

“In most cases, I do not go looking for buyers, they look for me,” she says.

Ms Wairimu says farming is one of the best paying jobs in Kenya but adds that it needs one to keep increasing and improving their knowledge through constant training and capacity building.

High cost of inputs like seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, she says, is one of the challenges that is discourages women and youth from venturing to farming.

“I, however, want to tell my fellow women that farming pays if only you practice it as agribusiness and take it seriously where you invest your time and resources and you get returns. Farming has made her become a respectable member of the community,” she says.

Ms Wairimu is appealing to the government to make it cheaper for farmers to get access to farm inputs through subsidies.

Soil is gold

The farmer is, however, warning women who want to venture into agribusiness that they have to personally be there and do it themselves as telephone farming never works.

She also warns against delegating important duties like spraying adding the farmer should actually do the mixing of the pesticide and only supervise the spraying.

Due to her outstanding farming prowess, the Egerton University through the Ministry of Agriculture every year seconds two students undertaking Agriculture -related courses for internship at her farm.

To maximise yields and boost production, she advises women farmers to ensure they do soil testing and crop rotation regularly.

She has planted nippier grass in terraces to prevent soil erosion. The grass is used to feed her cows.

Economic empowerment

Terming soil as gold, Ms Wairimu says owning land is the key to women economic empowerment since they can be able to practice through agriculture which she says is well paying.

She says she does not regret venturing into farming as it has given her financial independence including enabling her to build rentals, which has guaranteed her steady monthly income.

She plans to venture into commercial avocado farming. In five years, she would like to be a role model in her community as a successful woman in agri-business.

Elusive justice for widow whose home was demolished

For the past two and half years, Florence Wairimu has been seeking justice for her land and her nearly completed home that was demolished at the dead of the night.

The 39-year-old widow and mother of two boys never knew the sudden death of her husband, James Mwangi Waweru, in October 2013, would only mark the beginning of her troubles.

Ms Wairimu vividly recalls the morning of February 2018, when she received a call from the local estate chairman asking her to go to Umoja III estate where her home was. She rushed to her 30 by 80 piece of land only to find a pile of rubble where her home once stood.

“I only remember blood draining from my face and I lost consciousness. They had come in the middle of the night with bulldozers and brought my house down. They even took away some building materials. To make matters worse, they accused me of stealing a parcel of land,” she says.


39-year-old Florence Wairimu, a widow, has been seeking justice for her land and nearly completed home that was demolished at the dead of the night.

Photo credit: Florence Nderitu | Nation Media Group

This land was all her husband left for Ms Wairimu and it was here she had hoped to pick up the pieces. She filed a case at the local chief and at the Buru Buru Police Station hoping the matter would be just as simple as verifying her as the rightful owner, arresting the perpetrator for damage and receiving compensation.

“I was shocked to hear the land had been sold to a third party who had immediately started putting up an apartment block. I reported to the police and to the director of criminal investigations to try stop the construction,” she notes.

“The people who stole the land from me tried to bribe me. They said they would give me Sh1 million to keep the land or they can allocate me a different parcel elsewhere. I refused the offer. All I wanted was my property,” a teary Ms Wairimu adds.

Legal fees

At this point the mother of two was at her wits end. The construction of the building was ongoing and her quest for justice seemed to lessen with each passing day. She decided to seek help from the Federation of Women Lawyers (Fida Kenya).

“I was given a lawyer. At first the lawyer said I should pay Sh3,000 for monthly legal fees but I did not have the money. I had been informed that cases handled by Fida are usually free. I then sought another lawyer,” she recalls.

Although the second lawyer did not charge any legal fees, Wairimu was told she had to pay Sh50,000 for them to file a Contempt of Court against the defendant.

“I had used so much money going to lawyers, following up cases at the police station and at the DCI. I had no more money, so I gave up seeking justice through court and hoped the police would help,” she adds.

While Ms Wairimu continued to press for justice, she started receiving death threats. Seeing that she refused to take the Sh1 million she was offered.

Constant fear

“I started fearing for my life. I even relocated from where I stayed in Molem. Because I am in constant fear, I hardly sleep through the night. Even though they do not know where I currently live, I cannot help but be worried about me and my sons,” she sobs.

“The situation has become so bad that whenever I go out, I disguise myself by wearing trousers, large sweaters and a hat so they will not notice me,” she adds.

What pains Ms Wairimu most is the effect that the dispute is having on her two sons. One is a young adult while the other just joined high school this year. She is concerned her pain is transferring to her children, who on more than once occasion, have been depressed because their mother is constantly sad and afraid.

“Right now, we are being hosted by my cousin because I cannot afford a decent home. I have cried countless of tears; I have visited so many officers, but I am still hopeful that I will get justice. I know God is on my side,” she says.

The ‘male feminist’ challenging the norm

For more than a decade, one man in Kakamega County has been a vocal champion for women’s rights and a force of progress from digressive traditional norms.

Known to many as the male feminist, Aggrey Majimbo has dedicated his life ensuring women get justice, particularly on issues relating to land.

Mr Majimbo, who calls himself a ‘grassroots woman’ tells The Voice that it has not been easy championing women rights as he is belittled and demonised by fellow men.

As a trained paralegal, Mr Majimbo was long aware of the high levels of rights abuse in his home county, which he admits was and is still being facilitated by some cultural practices. 

Known to many as the male feminist, Aggrey Majimbo has dedicated his life ensuring women get justice, particularly on issues relating to land. 

Photo credit: Isaac Wale | Nation Media Group

“There has been an issue with rights’ abuse particularly based on gender, where women were often left out. It has been long understood that women are to be seen and not heard. This is why I formed a community-based organisation,” says Mr Majimbo.

Since these injustices were linked to cultural practices, he decided to work closely with local chiefs and their assistants- they have great influence alongside the highly regarded council of elders. Mr Majimbo had previously witnessed incidences of killings, arson, and other crimes due to land disputes.

“Although these chiefs and their assistants were competent in handling physical altercations among families over land, many, if not all, were hardly aware of the Constitution and policies relating to land rights. I trained them to be aware of what the law says,” he added.

Watchdog groups

Through a partnership with Groots Kenya, he established ‘watchdog groups’ at the village level. The groups would identify any form of violation and present the matter before the local chiefs or their assistants.

“Issues that could be resolved at the grassroots level, were tackled. If parties don’t come to a consensus, we forward the matter to the courts. However, I always encourage people to try as much as possible to solve their dispute at the lower level,” he said.

A setback, however, is that current local administrative officers are not trained on law and the Constitution, further derailing some gains made by the previous administration who were trained.

He notes that there is need for constant training of these officers on matters relating to law, further noting that most of them, unfortunately, rely on guess work, which is not helpful in resolving dispute cases.

Land-related disputes

“Most of the chiefs and their assistants do not have adequate training to resolve land-related disputes. Some write two administrative letters for two different people for the same land,” he adds.

Mr Majimbo says he has a good working relationship with the police as well as various ministries including Land, Health, Education, Gender, Interior as well as the Judiciary.

“The challenges I tackle everyday directly relate to these offices. I currently have more than 35 pending cases relating to land. Most of the victims are widows, usually helpless and lack the financial power to follow up their cases. However, a good relationship with these offices makes it easier to getting justice for some of these women,” he notes.

He is pained that some of the practices in his community are designed to lock women out.

“It worries me to think that if I die today, my wife and daughters will not benefit from wealth we have created together. This is something all men should think about. If you die today, how will your family be treated?” he poses.

Gender desks

“Women have a right to land ownership either from their fathers or their husbands. Men should step up on the matter, put their pride aside and fight for the rights of their wives, sisters, and daughters. Make deliberate steps such as having a joint ownership or writing a will to cater for your family once you are gone,” he adds.

He calls for the revamping of gender desks in police stations manned by police officers trained on gender issues.

Wycliff Kombo Butsotso North Location chief, is another male champion leading women equality push in his area.

Mr Kombo says the issue of widows and women being disinherited is real, adding he has stood his ground against their oppression.

“My stand has seen me get threatened and called names. That has, however, not distracted me,” he says.

He notes that it has been his stand that a widow or co-wives, in cases where the man was polygamous, ought to benefit equally from a deceased’s estate.

He recently recommended Roselinda Mukhwana, a woman, to sit in the Navakholo Sub-county lands control board. This would enable her articulate women issues on land in the area.

Ignorant, vulnerable

The administrator in charge of 48 villages, says culture is the biggest hindrance to gender equality as far as women land rights is concerned.

“Culture has created a mentality that women are meant to only be married and not to inherit anything,” he said.

He blames corrupt provincial administrators on the thriving cases of disinheritance of widows in the county, noting that a few corrupt chiefs target widows seeking assistance from their offices to start succession and demand bribes.

He also blames bureaucracy involved in succession matters, which he says was making widows, most of who are ignorant, vulnerable to manipulation.

“I want to leave a legacy. I do not want these things to haunt me in my old age. It takes courage to take a stand like mine but I want to serve the community in a different way. Women too, have a right to land rights,” says the administrator.

He cautions his colleagues against living in the colonial era when chiefs were perceived as small gods, adding they are now civil servants and should change their mind-sets.

Protecting widows from dispossession by in-law

Women comprise a large percentage of small-scale farmers, attributing to nearly 89 per cent of labour in subsistence farming and 70 per cent of cash crop labour. In addition, about 32 per cent of households are headed by women.

Having more access to land, including the ability to make decisions on its use, thus impacts their economic ability.

Karol Boudreaux the chief programme officer at Landesha, a global land rights organisation, says that when women have land rights, there are other development outcomes result, including education, health and nutrition.

Ms Boudreaux says land rights contribute to women's empowerment within the home, which can lead to better, freer choices for their employment, reproductive health and less gender-based violence.

Hardest hit

Widows are the hardest hit in terms of land ownership including disinheritance. They encounter challenges with in-laws, relatives and government officials coming into the way of their quest to inherit land left by their late husbands.

Groots Kenya Executive Director Frida Githuku says there has been progress on women land ownership since the 2010 Constitution was enacted, with the number of those demanding inheritance of their parents and husbands increasing.  She says the 2010 Constitution has seen the number of women in land control boards in the sub-counties across the country, increase tremendously.

She adds that the requirement of spousal consent while selling land has helped since men cannot dispose of their land without their wives’ consent.

“Despite the constitutional gains, we can do better since we are still behind the target. The recent survey showing that women only own 10 per cent of land in Kenya is not good news,” she says.

Fear courts

Ms Githuku adds that the Succession Act is sufficient to protect widows but adds the problem is with its implementation.

“Women tend to fear courts; it is a high time the Judiciary becomes friendlier. The process of succession is also expensive and rigorous, locking out many widows, especially those in rural areas,” she says.

Her organisation, she adds, has assisted about 4,000 widows get back their land. They have also assisted women form watchdog groups in the hotspot counties where cases of widows’ disinheritance is rampant.

The groups, composed of women drawn from the affected areas, map and document cases of widows undergoing turbulent times after which they help them.

Safe custody

Alice Isoyi, Kakamega County coordinator of the watchdog groups says they have been instrumental in sensitising women on what to do in case their husbands die.

“We tell them they should ensure they have in their possession their late husband’s ID, title deed and any other crucial documents to ensure succession is easy,”  says Ms Isoyi.

She says the widows bring the documents to the watchdog for safe custody to minimise instances of them being stolen by rogue in-laws. Watchdog ward coordinators are responsible for conducting forums, barazas to enlighten men and women on the importance of gender equality.

Mary Shimwenyi, Malava Sub-county coordinator, says they involve men in the campaigns because they realised local leaders supported dispossession of widows.

Of traditions, laws, policy; it may not be an overnight fix, but we're getting there

Despite progressive laws, implementation of land policies in some communities, particularly in rural settings, has been slow as cultural practices and patriarchal systems continue to hold a strong footing. Tradition has infused in people the belief that women cannot manage property and need male protection.

Customary laws and practices continue to prohibit them from owning or inheriting land. The practices have been faulted for granting women secondary rights to land, namely through their relationships to a male relative or spouse.

National Lands Commission (NLC) Chairman Gershom Otachi acknowledges that land ownership has been heavily influenced by socio-cultural aspects, which remain the greatest hindrance on women getting access to land rights.

White settlers

Mr Otachi explains that many communities are patriarchal. This goes back to pre-colonial days and was further reinforced by the land titling process introduced by the white settlers and later adopted by the country after independence.

“Kenya largely still operates in a patriarchal system, particularly on matters relating to land ownership. This has denied women rights to land ownership, where women can only have access to land through having relationships with their male counterparts,” he says.

“However, the country is slowly becoming more gender balanced, largely through inheritance,” he adds.

Custodians of culture

Field analysis by community-based organisations, such as the Kenya Land Alliance, Federation of Women Lawyers (Fida Kenya), and Groots Kenya show that the socio-cultural relation to land ownership plays a significant role in the inequality and marginalisation of women in relation to land rights.

There is hope as the country has undergone legal reforms to allow women to have equal inheritance rights with men.

“Initially, women had secondary rights to land, acting in the capacity of male custodians. The situation has, however, changed due to increased advocacy and improvement in policies,” says Winny Chepkemoi from the Kenya Land Alliance.

Beyond the traditional norms, community elders play a significant role as influencers not only in addressing disputes within their communities. Due to their position and reverence in society, they are critical game changers at the community level.

“We realised that although we are championing for good policies and space for women in land matters, there was a barrier. Elders are the custodians of culture and traditions in these communities and it is through them that certain policies can be realised,” she says.

Land laws

Through their work among communities such as the Kalenjin and Ameru among others, Kenya Land Alliance officials noted that elders did not understand land laws.

“We had to implement a behaviour change dialogue with these elders. We made them understand what we are advocating for and ensuring they understood their role in the realisation of women land rights,” she notes.

Evoking a behaviour change from deep-rooted cultures and traditions would require a lot of advocacy and training. Some norms prohibit women from being part of dispute resolution at the community level.

“Being around elders is as a man’s territory and women are not allowed regardless of the matter. Instead, they are represented by male relatives, some of whom work against them,” Chepkemoi explains.

Empower fellow women

Chief Justice David Maraga recently called for succession tussles to be handled by clan elders and mediators under the superintendent of chiefs and their assistants, a move that was opposed by stakeholders including lawyers and rights activists.

However, Mr Otachi notes that if implemented well, alternative dispute resolution could be the best way for communities to settle land disputes. He says the system simplifies land issues and empowers communities to come up with systems that work for them.

“This could be further reinforced by empowering women to take up more leadership roles in their communities where they are given a platform to not only be involved in decision making but also empower fellow women,” he says.

“We have started to see this happen, where there are more women leaders in villages as assistant chiefs or chiefs, who are critical in community leadership. Through their role, they educate women and the community on land matters,” he notes.