Dryland Forestry

Meet Angela Nyanchama, advocate of the High Court of Kenya, and this month’s WeCaN Champion

16/08/2022

Angela is currently both working with non-state actors in Nakuru, Kenya and undertaking her LLM remotely at the University of Nairobi. She previously attained her LLB from Moi University on the back of her volunteer experience with non-state actors, which began in 2009.  

Angela started off at various civil society organisations, mostly helping refugees whom she would meet on a daily basis, write reports on them, and assist them in their asylum. She worked at a law firm and went to court almost daily, yet this was not what Angela wanted to be doing, to use her own words it was the same thing day in, day out”.However now, working with non-state actors in Nakuru Angela says, “you feel that you make a change”. 

So, what does Angela’s work now entail? 

Well, part of the work requires her to support the communities understand the laws, policies and constitutional provisions so that they can engage effectively in natural resource governance processes; she drafts proposals, memorandums of understanding and institutional policies; she reviews and analyses policy, legislation and constitutional oriented materials in the areas of land, environment, fisheries, forests, agriculture and pastoralism; she engages with different departments within the organization to understand what they do for purposes of integrating policies and laws into their projects/programmes; she writes monthly reports; and she undertakes the co-ordination of field events.  

The day that we spoke, Angela was supposed to travel to Kajiado,a local community, to organize a meeting for the following day. The meeting would involve community members and the local government to register everyone to the communal land. Land is a complex issue in Kenya- a high portion of the Kenyan population relies on agriculture as their primary source of income, thus secure land tenure is crucial to many. The National Land Policy of 2009 changed how land was divided and owned in Kenya. Previously land was designated as either government, trust or private, whereas afterwards, land became either community, public or private. In 2016, fifty-three years after Kenya’s independence, the Community Land Act came into being which recognises community land ownership, meaning that communities can secure a single collective title over the land. The community must be registered, as must the community land, therefore a Community Land Management Committee is elected to oversee the registration on behalf of the community. This act aims to allow communities to have greater control over the land and its natural resources which plays a vital role in securing land-based livelihoods; promoting sustainable management; mitigating conflicts; strengthening resilience; and facilitating adaptation to climate change. Assisting communities registering land is part of Angela's job. 

First, communities meet and agree that their land needs to be registered- all groups within the community must be represented, for instance minorities, people with disabilities, women and youth cannot be forgotten. Community members should be encouraged to know all things related to the Community Land Act to ensure both the content and the process have been properly understood. During the meeting, the Community Assembly, seven to fifteen members are elected (keeping in mind the two-thirds gender rule which means that no more than two-thirds of the elected members are of the same gender) to the Community Land Management Committee (CLMC). They will also appoint a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer to the Executive Committee.  

The purpose of the CLMC is to undertake the registration of the community by 1) coming-up with the name of the community 2) compiling the register of members 3) drawing the constitution of the community and 4) applying to the registrar for registration. Such is the process in a nutshell.  

When asked what the more trying parts of the work encompass, Angela replies that civil societies end up competing for the same donors, thus hostility can sometimes ensue. Angela states that “you need to be able to bounce back to work together, otherwise you will not be able to work”.  However, the part of the job that Angela loves, is aside from feeling she is making a real difference, is the advocacy part, “you have to build knowledge; embrace advocacy skills”. We wish Angela all the best in her endeavours and her upcoming LLM.    

 

Recommended reading: Please check out this article on community land rights registration and women in Kenya co-written by our WeCaN Champion here