Why you are likely to lose your land to family, not fraudsters

You are more likely to lose ownership of your land to family members than to fraudsters, a report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows.

This is considering the major method of land acquisition in the country is through inheritance, according to the Kenya Housing Basic Survey Report 2023-2024.

The report shows that the possibility of losing ownership of your land due to family misunderstandings is higher compared to if you did not have a title deed.

The report also shows that only six in 10 landowners have a title deed. At least two in 10 Kenyans have no document to show ownership, with another 1.4 per cent not aware of the need for documented ownership.

Additionally, 0.6 per cent of landowners are holding the pieces for speculation. This is while a majority (47.2 per cent) are using it for crop or livestock rearing. Another 47.1 per cent are using it for residential purposes, either for their homes or for rentals.

According to the report, family-related wrangles are the major reasons that could lead to someone involuntarily losing either ownership of their land or the rights to use it. This represents 38.6 per cent compared to corruption in land administration, which involves issues like forgery of documents at 15.7 per cent.

“Intra-family issues posed the highest threat to involuntarily losing ownership or user rights for parcels of land at 38.6 per cent, whereas government pronouncements were at 16.5 per cent,” the report reads.

Community conflicts rank 13.0 per cent, with death or a spouse and divorce at 5.6 and 1.1 per cent, respectively.

The possibility of losing land due to a lack of a title deed is lower at 2.0 per cent.

Other reasons that can cause one to lose ownership of their land are election violence (0.6 per cent), loan recovery (0.2 per cent), floods from the lake (0.1 per cent) and expiry of lease period (6.6 per cent).

The report says land is a key component in the provision of housing and has various uses, such as agricultural, residential, commercial, and industrial.

“Land ownership and secure use rights are foundational elements in the context of housing, playing a critical role in individual wellbeing, economic stability and community development. Security of tenure ensures that individuals and families can access, use and develop land without fear of eviction or dispute,” the report adds.

A major reason why one is likely to lose land to family is the method of acquisition. The report lists several ways one can legally acquire land and use rights, including inheritance, purchase, allocation by family members or non-relatives, allocation by government, gifting, renting and borrowing.

“About half of the land parcels were acquired through inheritance (53.5 per cent). This was followed by land purchase (31.0 per cent) and allocation by family members (8.6 per cent),” the report says.

There is a section of landowners (1.5 per cent), who moved into the property without the owner’s permission, with a similar percentage who also received their plots as gifts.

The National Crime Research Centre (NCRC) lists families as the second leading perpetrators of land use crime in the country after unrelated individuals.

Land conflicts are caused by individual greed and disagreements among members of the family, fraud, a poor land registration system, a high value attached to land, territorial expansion linked to politics, corruption and the commercialisation of farming activities,” noted NCRC in a 2019 report titled Situational Analysis of Land-Related Crimes in Kenya.

Despite the risks of losing land ownership, the report rates the perception of tenure security at 91.8 per cent, as a majority of Kenyans believe they are "not at all likely" to lose their property.

The report describes perception of tenure security as the extent to which individuals feel confident that they will not be unjustly evicted or lose rights to their land.

“Nationally, 91.8 per cent of the population were not likely to involuntarily lose their land ownership or use rights, while 0.8 per cent felt that they were likely to involuntarily lose ownership or rights of their parcels,” the KNBS report says.

While a majority of landowners, at 66.0 per cent, have title deeds as proof of ownership, 15.9 per cent do not have any document.

The rest of the owners bank on allotment letters, transfer documents, share certificates, settlement scheme documents, certificates of lease, trust deeds, power of attorney and confirmation of grant as proof of ownership.

“Land ownership documents in Kenya are critical for establishing legal rights, promoting secure tenure, and facilitating economic development. However, 15.9 per cent of parcels lacked ownership documents. In summary, 82.7 per cent of land parcels had legally recognised documents, while 17.3 per cent had none or others,” reads the KNBS report.