On 9th July 2024, the Executive Director (ED) of KELIN, Dr. Allan Maleche and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Land Commission (NLC), Ms. Kabale Tache renewed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two entities at the NLC offices in Nairobi, Kenya for another three-year period(2024-2027). In attendance at the signing ceremony were various NLC staff including the Director of Research- Mr. Charles Kagema, Head of Advocacy and Communication- Mr.Walter Menya among others as well as several representatives from KELIN including KELIN’s Deputy Executive Director, Ms. Hortense Minishi and the Women, Land and Property Rights Program Manager, Ms. Jessica Oluoch.
The National Land Commission was established in 2010 pursuant to Article 67 of the Constitution of Kenya with the mandate of, among other things, managing public land and recommending land policies to the national government. In her opening remarks, the NLC CEO thanked KELIN for a wonderful partnership during the previous period (2021-2024) and recounted the numerous successes jointly achieved through the partnership. Some of the notable ones include the development of the recommended National Land Policy successful Regional Research Conferences on land governance and natural resource management including the recently concluded 3rd Regional Research Conference held in mid-June 2024, the Lake Region Economic Block Forums in the western region, trainings on Alternative Justice Systems and gender mainstreaming for both NLC and the Ministry of Land, Kenya staff as well as the development and dissemination of diverse educational and public awareness materials on land rights and administration.
KELIN’s ED in welcoming the renewed partnership emphasized the organization’s commitment to work with the Commission in promoting lands rights and gender equality. Announcing’s KELINs recent milestone in becoming a certified Research Institute, Dr. Maleche called for both organizations to work together to conduct research related to land and the use of natural resources nationally to influence formulation of equitable laws and policies. “The partnership with the National Land Commission has seen the inclusion of the voices of minority groups in policy making processes and access to justice for the communities we work with. KELIN values our strategic partnership and within the renewed MOU we intend to focus on joint research areas that promote intersectional health rights for all”, he said.
The new MoU will build upon past gains and focus on conducting a gender impact assessment of the Alternative Justice Systems (AJS) Policy, planning a 4th Regional Land Research Conference, addressing historical land injustices and legal support provision, documenting community voices including women in land rights conversations, targeted advocacy and public awareness among other priority areas. Moving forward, both institutions will reflect on the lessons learnt from their partnership and develop joint work plans to guide on the implementation of the identified key priority areas for the next year.
‘’We appreciate the partnership with KELIN, and we have seen changes in perspectives of our team and communities based on the strategic activities implemented during the period, we look forward to new ideas that will benefit the communities we serve”- Ms . Kabale Tache, NLC CEO said in closing.
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For more information, please contact;
Jessica Oluoch,
Program Manager, Women Land & Property Rights
Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV & AIDS (KELIN)
Nyalenda Railways Estate, Block 9/220
Off Nairobi Road, Opposite YMCA
P.O. Box 7708| 40100 Kisumu – Kenya Email: joluoch@kelinkenya.org
