Regional Land Context for Peaceful Co-existence in Kenya

This Conference represents Kenya. Participants include civil, political, religious and business leaders from all over the country. They are change-agents. They have deep connections with the grassroots of their communities and they work tirelessly to better the lives of those around them. This group has come together because they are concerned: concerned by the violence they have seen in recent times, concerned at the history of violence surrounding elections, and concerned at the disconnect between the actual objectives of the National Land Policy and the perceptions of it that they see and hear in their communities. Land Reform remains a deeply emotive issue. Over two days participants heard from expert speakers and debated the issues amongst themselves. Their overwhelming desire is to prevent conflict marring the elections, the Land Reforms and Kenya’s future. It is clear to them that what politicians say, especially in the lead-up to an election, can make the difference between whether there is a crisis or whether a crisis is averted. Politicians and policy makers are reminded that the signals they send out are very important. The recommendations contained in this paper are not intended to be read as criticism, either of the Government or of any institution. Rather, they should be seen as the sage advice of concerned and well informed citizens who know their people and love their country. Policy makers ignore these voices at their peril. This report provides a summary of the presentations and discussions as they took place. There were, inevitably, differences of opinion during the debates, but the conclusions and principles settled upon by participants were achieved by consensus, providing a jointly agreed basis on which to move forward.