Community Discussion on land rights and sustainable land management practice

Golbo  ward is an electoral ward in Kenya. It is one of the wards in Moyale constituency in Marsabit county. Golbo ward borders Ethiopia to the north, Wajir county to the east, Obbu and Butiye ward to the south. Golbo ward is very vast, covering area of 2374 sq km which is 3.4% land mass of the County and a population of 29161(2009 census). Golbo ward is among the most populated ward in Marsabit county. It is one of the most ethnically diverse ward in the county with five different ethnic groups residing in the area (Borana, Garri, Gabra, Ajuran and Sakuye). There are four locations in the ward namely Godoma, Dabel, Nana and Odda locations.

The issue of land management and ownership is a very sensitive issue that requires a holistic approach and integration of all stakeholders to foster peace and cohesion among all the tribes living in Golbo ward. Over the years there has been frequent conflicts over land among communities living in Golbo ward which has led to loss of many lives for both livestock and human being and destruction of property just to mention a few impacts exacerbated by the climate change.

Community members drawn from four villages namely Funanyatta, Chirach,  Qalaliwe gave their insight on general land issues pertaining to land rights, management and the ongoing discussion on community land registration process at ward level. The following were the items for the discussion:

• Current state of land governance and management and challenges
• Economic/cultural significance/Value for land within the ward
• Ongoing discussions on community land registration process

Current trends on land management practices and challenges associated with it

Most of the residents in golbo lacks legal documents to claim ownership of land. This has majorly contributed to perennial conflicts over land ownership between individuals, communities and even with governments. For instance, there is ongoing court battles involving the local communities and the Kenya defence forces over ownership of land from Odda all the way to Missa  Location. Moreover, during the adverse climatic condition such as drought there is unending conflicts among community members over scarce resources such as water and pasture for the livestock and people. Elders present emphasized the need for land registration to permanently curb these challenges

Economic/cultural significance of land

Most of the ward land mass constitutes an extensive plain lying between 300m and 900m above sea level. Golbo ward has a large rangeland extending from the Ethiopian borderline to Baden Rero and Arb Jaan along the Wajir-Marsabit border. Proper rangeland management practices improves the economic potential of the people. The ward also has Gold deposits at Hilo and Sand at Odda which is unsustainably extracted with the residents losing the benefits that come with it except the consequences of land degradation as a result of over extraction/overharvesting of these resources.

Ward level community land registration

Community members present at the meeting showed specific interest on this topic and had a lengthy discussion on the same. There has been an attempt before by other organization such as ISID and NRT to involve communities in dialogue on land registration  of which most of the elders present were involved in the discussion. The elders unanimously agreed the need to register their land and understood the benefits that come with it specifically the danger they are currently facing about the land scuffle with the KDF and the unending perennial conflicts over land. However, the outcome wasn’t good due to the following setbacks;

• Mistrust between community members living in the ward; Given the history of conflict among the communities over land ownership, there is general mistrust and fear of losing the land to the other warring communities thus they question the intention of the process.
• Political inclination and “supremacy” thought on who spearheads the process; Politics comes into play in the success/failure of the process in that among some communities the council of elders are deeply divided along political line such that however good this initiative is, whatever elders on different political camp supports, the other camp automatically opposes meaning all camps wants to claim credits for the initiative making it difficult to proceed with community land registration.
• Boundary disputes; Inability to clearly define the boundary among different communities poses a great obstacle on the success of the process. Given the sensitivity of the boundary issue the community members failed to agree on the importance of this exercise
• Lack of proper awareness/Knowledge; The community lacks awareness of their land rights and existing regulations leading to widespread confusion about the exercise.

CONCLUSION

From the fruitful discussion with the community the following can be deduced;

• The community needs capacity building on land right and sustainable land management to empower them with knowledge and skills necessary to protect and utilize their land resources effectively
• Awareness campaign; There is need to launch community awareness campaign through media such as local radio, social media and posters on the importance of land rights and sustainable land management
• There should be an integrated and structured community dialogue to foster understanding and achieve a common ground when it comes to land registration and sustainable land management practice.