The digital tool helping Kakamega women access land justice

When Mary*, a widow from Isukha South, Kakamega County, heard from her neighbour about a digital land violation reporting tool, she quickly rushed to the community-based organisation in charge, to find out more information and to report her case. Not long before, she had been evicted from her home after her husband’s death by his brother. She needed help, desperately.

“My brother-in-law told me that I had no business staying in that home and that the property didn't belong to me. He took all my properties, including land and forced me out. He was verbally violent.”

At Shibuye health workers’ offices, her case was logged onto the online platform called Haki Ardhi. Being a succession matter, the organisation’s legal assistant sat with her and guided her through a mediation process that took place between family members and the woman in the presence of the area chief. 

After a successful resolution of the succession issue, Mary was able to go back to her land. Today she can use, control and manage the land the same way she did when her husband was alive.

Mary is one of two women who have so far benefited from the Haki Ardhi tool that was launched by the Kenya Land Alliance (KLA) with support from Rainforest Foundation UK and TMG Research gGmbH - TMG Think Tank for Sustainability.

KLA chief executive officer Faith Alubbe observed that women and widows particularly suffer in silence because they are often punished and ostracised by society when they report disinheritance, eviction from their homes, and denial of access to and use of land, among other violations, to the location chief or police.

Also read: Women and property: Here’s how tech can help resolve land disputes

“This tool enables women to report abuses and violations safely, access support faster, and allows for the digitisation of case files. Local partner members of KLA such as Shibuye health workers can then centralise data, identify trends, and together we can push for policy change.”

The tool has two components. One is an online platform that works through the Shibuye-based organisation, which documents cases and conducts follow-ups and referrals to suitable entities to ensure their completion. The second component, launched on June 20, is an SMS platform for alerts and quick responses using a free USSD code that can be used by any person in need.

Mercine Milimu, a programme officer at KLA, said that so far, 34 succession-related cases have been reported through the tool.

Awareness

Terry Limukha, a resident who attended one of the tool’s sensitisation meetings in Likuyani, Kakamega County, on Tuesday said that going forward, she would be using the SMS.

“It is really easy and convenient. There was a time when my grandfather died and we were under threat of eviction, I did not know what to do then, but now I know where to turn to if something similar ever occurred.”

However, Martha Juma, assistant chief at Kongoni in Kakamega, complained about women’s low participation in sensitisation meetings.

“It is disappointing but not shocking. Even when I call for barazas, very few or no women attend, yet these are the spaces where they can come and get information about land justice and their rights. The women only come to me after discovering their husbands have sold their land and squandered the funds, which in many cases I beseech them to forgive and move on, then make the husbands commit not to keep secrets and to involve their wives in land issues.”

“I have thought about taking these barazas to churches on Sunday afternoons after service, but I fear they will not be well received, and they may be hijacked by other political players who want to drive their agendas.”

Also read: Faith Alubbe, the first woman boss at Kenya Land Alliance

To counter women’s low participation in land-related matters, KLA has been working through chamas and through community influencers like pastors.

“In most of our sensitisation meetings, men’s attendance is often higher than women’s, so we are working to make men champions to support us,” said Mercine.

Pastor Elisha Munubi is one of the champions. In 30 years of pastoral functions, he has witnessed women’s alienation and related land injustices. Some men have rejected attempts by their sisters to inherit land. Some widows have been kicked out of their matrimonial property, while others have refused to be 'inherited'.

And so for him, the reporting tool is a long-awaited intervention that can help alleviate women’s suffering. “I am glad that I am a bridge to link women in need to such resources because it is very unfortunate to find a woman roaming the streets because she was kicked out of her land and has no one to turn to.”

*Name changed to protect the identity of the victim

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