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Quick information guide

Matrimonial Property Act, 2013 has provisions on:

Equal status of spouses (Section 4)

A married women has the same rights as a married man:

  • to acquire, administer, hold, control, use and dispose of property whether movable or immovable;
  • to enter into a contract; and
  • to sue and be sued in her own name.

Special provisions on Matrimonial property (Section 12)

  • Matrimonial property cannot be sold, leased or mortgaged during a monogamous marriage without the consent of both spouses (See section 12(1));
  • Spouses in marriages, including the man and any of the man’s wives in the case of a polygamous marriage, have an interest in matrimonial property capable of protection by caveat, caution or any law in force on registration of title deeds;

Divorce or dissolution of polygamous marriage:

Matrimonial property act (Section 8) clarifies:

  • Matrimonial property acquired by the man after the man marries another wife shall be regarded as owned by the man and the wives taking into account any contributions made by the parties;
  • it is possible for a wife to hold her matrimonial property with the husband separate from that of the other wives; any wife can own matrimonial property equally with the husband without the participation of the other wife or wives.

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Access to land

The Kenyan constitution under Article 40(1) ensured every person has equal rights either individually or in association with others. These rights extend even to the right to acquire and own property in any part of Kenya.

Women in Kenya  have  access  to  land  but  lack  control  over it,  this in turn stops them  from  using  title deeds  as  a form  of  collateral  when seeking financing for their businesses.

This challenge limits the improvement of their economic status.  Kenya has undertaken legal reforms that will help women acquire property.

 Women can now buy and register land individually and they can inherit land from their parents and husbands because of the matrimonial property act.

In 2018 the Kenya Land Alliance disaggregated and analyzed 1,000,099 out of the about 3,200,000 title deeds issued by the Government of Kenya from 2013 to 2017.

In this audit, KLA found out that only 103,043 titles representing 10.3 percent were issued to women while 865,095 titles representing 86.5 percent went to men.

In terms of hectares, out of 10,129,704 ha of land titled; women got 163,253 ha representing a paltry 1.62 percent, while men got 9,903,304 ha representing 97.76 percent.

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angle-left IMPACT (Indigenous Movement for Peace Advancement and Conflict Transformation)

IMPACT (Indigenous Movement for Peace Advancement and Conflict Transformation)

IMPACT works to address the major problems faced by the socially excluded social groups, specifically indigenous people such as pastoralists and hunters & gatherers communities.

These problems include the loss of land rights, historical land injustices, and exploitation of resources without participation or accruing benefits, government-based development policies, social exclusion, corporate injustices and discrimination that continue to undermine their dignity.

IMPACT Priority Interventions

  • Land Rights and Resource Governance-IMPACT strengthens the capacity of pastoralists’ communities to map, manage and share their natural resources in an inclusive and sustainable manner. They are trained on:

 

  1. Protecting their customary land rights as defined in the community land act.
  2. Negotiate with government, investors and other stakeholders on sustainable utilization of natural resources.
  3. Mapping of community land as defined by the community land laws.
  4. Defend their land rights on large scale land based investments
  • Human Rights, Lobby and Governance- IMPACT does this by:-


i. Training para-legal workers and human rights defenders.

ii. Organizing human rights awareness campaigns and training.
iii. Advancing indigenous people at the national, regional, and international levels with a focus on the Africa Commission on Human and Peoples rights and UN processes.

  1. Providing legal aid and linking to survivors of human rights violation and abuses to national strategic organizations.
  2. Documenting and reporting human rights violations.

 

  • Peace Building and Conflict Transformation- IMPACT does this by:-
  1. Facilitating inter-community dialogue around issues of natural resource-based conflict
  2. Providing a platform for peace building initiatives and liaise with national peace building forums and processes at the county and national levels.
  3. Strengthening traditional institutions of governance and decision making.
  4. Working towards an enabling environment for reconciliation and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
  • Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience-IMPACT does this by:-
  1. Collaborating with the national and county government as well as other stakeholders in formulating legislations, plans and policies that are responsive to integrated risk management (IRM) approaches and that contribute towards strengthening communities.
  2. Promoting indigenous people traditional livelihood/ occupation and natural resource governance practices that are resilient and adaptive.
  3. Capacity building of grassroot and people- based institutions
  • Livelihood and Community Development-IMPACT has continuously supported communities to explore alternative forms of compatible livelihood for those that have fallen out of pastoralism.
  • Research and Documentation-IMPACT conducts researches in the Northern pastoral communities in Kenya with the aim of documenting indigenous communities’ knowledge, culture, and history to preserve it for future generations.  

Contacts

IMPACT (Indigenous Movement for Peace Advancement and Conflict Transformation)                                                                                                 KIO Building, Kimathi Road, Nanyuki Kenya. 

Phone: +254 724 540 669/+254 722 663 090       

Email:                                                                                

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