DOI: 10.13189/sa.2014.020707 Balancing of Rights in Land Law: A Key Challenge in Kenya

Abstract The attempt to revive African customary law has been persistent throughout the history of legal education in Kenya. Today more than ever before the country shall have to reconsider the role and importance of re-studying customary land tenure practised by the Kenyan people in order to strike proper balance of rights in land law in force. The research examines the balance of several interest groups and regulatory systems that confer rights to individuals and groups. The main concern of the research is about the deployed systems that have failed to quell conflicts, violence, crimes and injustices, related to land tenure and its inequitable redistribution to individuals and communities. The work seeks to provide clue to legal lacunae existing in the Kenyan land regime. As most of the problems facing land law are premised on the mechanisms, structures and policies adopted by the Government to put records straight, restore law, and order, the study investigates the effectiveness of such balancing criteria