The Civil Society Organization is on a move to domesticate and protect the justice pathway for women pursuing their right to land.
The network which in December 2022 revealed that families are entangled in disputes, some of which causing death, hatred and bungled families is now calling for accountability in respect to protection of women and their right to land.
Speaking during a two-day workshop held at Acacia Hotel in Kisumu, CSO Network team leader Betty Okero said there is need to understand the loopholes creating exploitation against tenure security for women.
“We have to create a safe space for women where they report cases and issues related to land when the already established institutions are not working,” she said.
The offices at the community level have become the biggest perpetrators of land, we have to change how the chiefs operate on issues revolving around land,
Betty Okero
Rogue chiefs
Among the major issues raised by the land injustice victims during the workshop blamed chiefs for leading in the injustices, by seeking bribes to make unjust rulings on land ownership.
Okero said there was need to transition from the robust informal processes and legal frame works to strengthen the justice system and developing a strategy for addressing cultural rights which hinder land justice.
“The offices at the community level have become the biggest perpetrators of land, we have to change how the chiefs operate on issues revolving around land,” she furthered.
The session brought together both official from the county and national government in the department of land as well as, human rights defenders, elders from Kisumu as well as the victims of land injustice.
oversight
Kisumu Lands CEC Dr. Kennedy Hongo said there was need to provide oversight for tenure security for women seeking justice.
He said that there was lack of knowledge on issues revolving around land and there was need for sensitization of women in the villages.
“We still have people back in the villages who do not understand how the issues around land operate and that is why they fail to get justice,” said Hongo.
Luo Council of Elders Secretary Mzee Silas Olala said there was also need for the elders to take the lead role in solving land disputes in a proper way.
“The elders know the history of land and should lead in solving this dispute and not misleading the people in exchange of bribes,” he said.