Controversy erupts over land adjudication process in Baringo

Rift Valley
By Julius Chepkwony and Ann Njeri | Aug 07, 2025

Endorois elders point to land in Arabal where hundreds of families were displaced due to banditry attacks.[FILE/Standard]

For 73-year-old pastor Jonathan Kipkulei from Barwessa in Baringo North Sub-County, uncertainty has been a lifelong reality.

Despite having lived on his land for decades, he has never held a title deed. The lack of a land ownership document had left him distressed.

However, after a long wait, the government initiated the process of issuing titles to the locals.

President William Ruto, in August 2023 issued over 8,000 title deeds to residents of Baringo North, Central, and South in Kabartonjo.

President Ruto then stated that the government would employ an additional 100 land valuers to accelerate the titling programme.

Kipkulei said the process offered them a sigh of relief, but they soon realized their joy would be short-lived as disagreements arose during the adjudication and verification process.

He said this was the second time the process was being undertaken, as the first happened in 1986.

“The process is not going on as we expected, as for me, during verification, I learnt that part of the parcel I knew was mine has been excised and allocated to another person,” Kipkulei said.

He said that as locals, they are having difficulty in filing for objections on the land due to the high cost, as a single objection costs Sh3,000.

He called on the government to allow elders who are residents to help in mediating and settling issues.

He said before the formal survey, locals identified their land boundaries using natural features and social structures.

Henry Cheptumo, another local, faulted the process, noting that there were irregularities.

Cheptumo said they were asked to sign a piece of paper without confirming where their land parcels are.

He said they have since realized that some parcels have been altered, others allocated to other people.

“Some parcels had disputes and wrangling parties ought to have been engaged in settling the matter, but we have since established that they were adjudicated,” he said.

He called on the government to intervene and deploy more land officers, adding that the issues arising might delay the process of issuance of titles.

The land disputes have escalated as some families claim they have been attacked in the middle of the night on Sunday and their homes demolished.

“Some people invaded our home, ordered me out of a semi-permanent structure we had constructed on the parcel, and started demolishing it. They confiscated my phone and demolished the house in the middle of the night,” said Collins Keino.

Keino said those who demolished the house informed him that they had done the wrong thing in constructing on the land, warning him not to repeat.

Keino’s mother said they acquired the land in 2012, only to realize that it had been sold to another person.

Isaiah Biwott, a human rights activist in Baringo, said there has been a rise in the number of land grabs in the area as a result of the ongoing adjudication.

He said that some land officials collude with land grabbers to frustrate legitimate landowners.

“The ongoing verification and validation have given rise to several cases; we have documented at least 27 cases since May 2025 when the process started,” he said.

A land official at the Kabarnet Land Offices, who declined to be named because the PS lands is the only person allowed to address the media, said they are following the Land Adjudication Act.

The officer said the Act guides them and called on the locals to follow the guidelines.

“We have had meetings with the locals, and the only way to address it is as stipulated in the law. We have camped there for 60 days as stipulated by law. If they are dissatisfied, they put an objection, and we will hear them,” said the officer.

The land official said the Sh3,000 objection fee is non-negotiable.

“I wish they could just stop creating a scene. Land adjudication is an individual thing. Once you do it in a mob, you lose focus. If you have issues, the parties will be given a fair hearing,” said the official.