Historical Land Injustices in Kenya

A Review in the Context of Guest Christology & the ‘Year of Jubilee’ Lessons

Abstract

Historical Land Injustices in Kenya have remained a thorn in the flesh. Whenever Kenya goes to a general election after every five years, historical land injustices have acted as a rallying cry for many politicians who use it to woo voters with the promise of ‘returning the land’ or settling land concerns if one is elected. Yet, several regimes that have ruled since independence (1963) have not been able to tackle this issue, as it is considered to be a very emotive agenda. Besides the disputed presidential election of post December 27, 2007 elections, historical land injustices were at the centre as a catalyst against those who were perceived to have benefited from the said injustice. Many people lost their lives, and others were displaced from their respective lands. Various attempts have been made, especially by non-political and Non-Governmental (NGO) bodies, to resolve the problem of land injustices, to no avail. Churches have preached peace; the government has set up commissions like the Truth and Justice, Reconciliation Commission (TJRC), and administrative policies and NGOs have provided for a discussion between elders of different communities. However, hostility against communities related to people who were thought to have been exploited remains afloat. This research article explores the underlying factors that led to land alienation from original owners and the place of the various regimes in land alienation. It then surveys the governments, the Church, and NGOs to attempt to resolve the problem of hostility and demand for the historical land injustices redress. The guiding questions are: Why have the proposed alternatives failed to realize reconciliation among the affected communities? Can the affected communities draw some lessons from the Guest Christology that comes with Zacchaeus encounters in Luke 19:1-10? Can reverse economy, drawn from Zacchaeus’ encounter with Christ in Luke 19:1-10, offer a new paradigm shift in our approach? Are there lessons we can learn from the Jewish Year of Jubilee? The research is basically library based.