Article Index
Page 9 of 10
8. Lessons from Kenya's Experience in Land Management
South Sudan can learn the following from Kenya‟s land governance experience:
- Develop a comprehensive land use and management policy to guide the government by providing for land-use planning, resource allocation and resource management for sustainable development, environmental management and sustainable production initiatives in the utilization of land resources, a comprehensive, efficient and affordable computer based land use information management system, appropriate accountable and democratic institution, mainstreaming of gender and special interest groups in land use planning and management among others
- Enacting clear laws that stipulate in whom the rights in land vest and operationalize them. Kenya‟s new Constitution in August 2010 marked the turning point. It declared that „All land is Kenya belongs to the people of Kenya collectively as a nation, as communities and as individuals‟ and announced classes of public, community and private land (Article 61). As such South Sudan should in its Constitution clearly state who owns the land and operationalize the ownership of the land as opposed to the state of confusion where de jure ownership of land is vested in the citizens when de facto, the citizens merely have leasehold interests which do not confer ownership of land in perpetuity as provided under the law. This shall give clear rights to the citizens of South Sudan in respect to the land governance and rights in the country.
- Kenya‟s Community Land Act focuses firmly upon formalizing provisions elevating the status of customary land holding to have equal force and effect with freehold and leasehold interests under community title. It asks communities to define and register themselves and await adjudication, survey and registration. This should be emulated by South Sudan by passing a similar Act and incorporating the provisions within the laws of the country.