 Competing Claims and Contested Boundaries: Legitimating Land Rights in Isiolo District, Northern KenyaSaafo Roba Boye () and Randi Kaarhus () Africa Spectrum, 2011, vol. 46, issue 2, 99-124 Abstract: People from five different ethnic groups share the territory that is Isiolo District, situated in northern Kenya. This article gives an account of the different groups’ claims to land in this inter-ethnic setting, which is located in the border area of the vast drylands southeast of the Sahara. Presenting contemporary claims in a narrative form, the authors illustrate how these claims seek legitimacy through reference to historical processes, to first-comer status and to former governments’ decisions, to citizenship dues, as well as to “tribal” group rights. Taking into account the fact that the broader constitutional, political and social contexts related to these narratives and claims are, at present, in a state of transition, the article seeks to situate the local people’s perspectives and local land dynamics within broader discourses on land conflict and land policy reform in Africa. In this way, it also provides context for the series of new inter-ethnic clashes that took place in Isiolo District in 2011. Keywords: Kenya; land tenure; land law; social conflicts; reforms (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gig:afjour:v:46:y:2011:i:2:p:99-124 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article More articles in Africa Spectrum from Institute of African Affairs, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg Contact information at EDIRC. |
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