INTERVIEWEE: FORMER CHIEF OFFICER IN CHARGE OF LANDS AND

NATIONAL PLANNING, MAKUENI COUNTY

He has served as a member of the ADR committee that handles land matters in Makueni County.

Resolution of land problems: in the first instance, people go to the elders (appointed by the
government), and if they are not satisfied with the verdict, they go to the Alternative Dispute
Resolution (ADR) Committee.

Noted: You can only resolve land issues with the land register in Kenya.

Q1. What is the composition of the court? Do women participate? Yes, women usually
participate. As per the constitutional requirement, whenever a land issue is brought for
resolution, we form a committee observing the two-thirds gender rule. Youth and people living
with disabilities are also involved.

Q. Are there issues that are off-limits? Yes, sometimes fits of anger during a dispute resolution
end up as physical fights between the parties in dispute. When this happens, the matter becomes
criminal, and we cannot handle it.

Double allocation issues breed conflict, especially when the issuing authority gives two people
titles to the same piece of land. Such cases become very difficult for us to resolve.

Q. How do you handle issues of breach of contract? Breach of contract happens mostly when a
father sells land, and after his demise, his children try to reclaim the land from the owner. To
resolve such matters we:

(i) look at the law of natural justice

(ii) we revert to the traditions of the area where the land is located,
Q. Since tradition is not written, what guides you in making decisions? We use (i) the unwritten
rules and procedures, (ii) historical knowledge on the land issue, and the information that is
available among the people.

Q. How do you ensure consistency in the verdicts made? Consistency is not guaranteed because
the issues in the disputes differ from one case to another.

Q. How do you enforce the verdict? There are traditional ways of enforcement. One of them is
by punishment, where the accused is put in a sack and beaten to ensure they adhere to the
verdict. We also rely on the services of Chiefs and the clan elders to help us in the enforcement,
but if it becomes difficult, we take the matter to court.

Q. What happens when a person is unhappy with a verdict? We advise them to go to court.

Q. What are the worst crimes with which you have dealt? The worst crime ever handled involved
our colleague – an employee of the government against the government. In this case, the
individual bought land reserved for a road. The people who sold the land to her were fake. The
matter took time to resolve because the committee members feared mediating a case in which the
government was involved. Eventually, the lady was compensated.

Q. What do you do with repeat offenders? We have not witnessed repeat offenders. If land
disputes arise repeatedly, we ask the parties to go to court.

Q. Has anyone ever walked out on you during mediation? Yes. People walk out, and when it
happens, we let them go. We make our determination without further consultation, especially if
those involved had been served.

Q. Are you compensated for your work? No. We have a salary from the government.
Q. Why do you prefer mediation as opposed to going to court?

(i) People prefer familiar faces. In court, the faces are unfamiliar

(ii) The parties involved know that there are no reprisals when a case is resolved through
mediation

(iii) A lack of knowledge of legal processes scares people from going to court.

(iv) People have a lot of faith in alternative dispute resolution methods

(v) People prefer keeping harmony and good neighbourliness.

This is possible when mediation is used to resolve their issues.

(vi) People feel they have power to resolve their issues.

(vii) Mediation takes less time to resolve issues.