LCA & USAID Facilitate A Complete Transition Of Five Group Ranches In Laikipia Into Community Lands.

Before 2021, only eight out of thirteen Group Ranches in Laikipia County had complied with The Community Land Act 2016 and transitioned to Community Lands with Il Ngwesi being the first Group Ranch in the entire country to fully transition. In 2021, Laikipia Conservancies Association, facilitated by USAID, embarked on a project to transition the five remaining Group Ranches namely; Koija, Lekuruki, Sholomai, Morupusi, and Munishoi into Community Lands. Today we are proud to announce that LCA has successfully managed to transition all five Community Lands, in compliance with The Community Land Act 2016. The Community lands are now able to enjoy secured land tenure and can take advantage of all benefits that this would attract.

The Transition Process

The transition was a transparent and inclusive process that involved:

1. Public Participation Meetings to inform, educate and create awareness on the importance of converting from Group Ranches to Community Lands.

2. Convening meetings on by-laws drafting. These meetings were attended by management committees or an elected task force.

3. Taking by-laws to the Group Ranch members for review. The collected feedback was taken into account in formulating a full constitution.

4. The Committee/task force convened again to fine-tune the draft by-laws into a final constitution.

5. A meeting was arranged with the members of each group ranch to elect an official Community Land Management Committee.

6. Lobbying the Laikipia County Government to issue an inventory of all registered lands and their status.

7. We then collaborated with the newly elected Community Land Management Committee on the registration processes which involved; updating the member register, providing all minutes for conversion and election meetings, presenting old title papers, presenting incorporation certificates, and paying requisite registration fees.

8. Handing in title documents to each converted Community Land.

9. Once the registration process was completed, the Community Land Management Committee is inducted on the administration and management of each of their assigned community land (CLMC Training)

Community Land Management Committee Training (CLMC Training)

After the complete transition of the five Community Lands, LCA embarked on training the

Management Committees from all 13 Community Lands in Laikipia Landscape irrespective of registration dates. They were trained in matters of governance, finance, management, and human rights. The training focused on the new arrangement and requirements of the new Act and roles of the CLMC under the community land Act 2016.

Laikipia Conservancies Association continues to support the Community Lands through additional capacity building such as the provision of educational information materials, sponsorship or facilitation of Community Assembly Meetings, and provision of financial services support. We would like to see all Community Lands within our membership flourish into sustainable institutions that can smoothly carry out operations along the lines of conservation, revenue generation, and rangeland management among others.