SID MIJADALA SERIES
THEME:
Land and National Cohesion: How can we transform land into a uniting factor in Kenya today?
Panel discussion preceded by a theatrical performance of Kuldip Sondhi’s Award Winning play “Beach Access.”
Sunday 31st August 2014|3.00PM VENUE: Louis Leakey Auditorium, National Museums of Kenya. NBI.
DATE:
PANELISTS:
1.
2.
3.
MODERATOR:
Peter Ole Musei
Patrick Ochieng’
Lydia Mukami
| Pastoralists Concern
| Ujamaa Kenya
| Mwea Foundation
Ikal Angelei
|Friends of Lake Turkana
EVENT BRIEFING NOTE:
Land remains an emotive issue in Kenya and an unrelenting root cause of national tensions. Recent Lamu eruptions remind us of the
potency of unresolved historical injustices around land. Land was also cited as a contributor to the post-election violence in 2007/8.
In urban centres particularly, property developers and citizen communities often clash over contested ownership of (non-)public
land. While the ethnic dimension is strongest in the narrative of Kenya’s land-related tensions and injustices, there are also race,
nationality, class and gender dimensions to the land question.
In partnership with the AWAAZ SAMOSA FESTIVAL 2014, the Kenya Dialogues Project will host a panel discussion on Sunday 31 st
August 2014 on the theme “Land and National Cohesion: How can we transform land into a uniting factor in Kenya today?”
The discussion will be preceded by a theatrical performance of BBC Award winning play ‘Beach Access’ which dramatizes
the struggles of ‘beach boys’ to regain access to their beach after the path is blocked by illegal developers. The play
examines the impact of big events and big people’s decisions on small people, with a demonstrated understanding of the
hopes and fears of ordinary wo/men. In the context of Kenya’s continuous search for meaningful paths to healing,
reconciliation and national cohesion, the issues raised by “Beach Access” are relevant today more than ever. The playwright
Kuldip Sondhi will grace the occasion.
Structured around a Moderator and discussants, this SID Mjadala Series brings together the citizen community to collectively reflect
on critical questions of our time on land and social justice including:
1. What more can the state do to address historical injustices relating to land and dispossession?
2. What is the role of communities in preventing and addressing land-related injustices?
3. Is the policy of "willing buyer-willing seller" sufficient to address land (re)distribution?
4. What lessons for Kenya from other countries in addressing similar land issues?
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ABOUT SID AND KDP
The Society for International Development (SID) is an international network of individuals and organizations founded in 1957 to foster democratic
participation in the development process through locally-driven programmes that strengthen collective empowerment, facilitate dialogue and
knowledge-sharing and promote policy change towards inclusivity, equity and sustainability.
The Kenya Dialogues Project (KDP) at SID is committed to creating a public covenant and leadership around four key promises of the Constitution
of Kenya. The four promises are: Public Participation, Leadership Integrity, Equality and Devolution. These promises enshrine the constitutional
vision of a democratic, just, equitable and economically prosperous Kenya. KDP supports active citizenship and responsive governance by building
and promoting balanced, respectful and enriching relationships between the public, civil society and government. We create and support spaces
for citizens and their leaders to interact in positive, forward looking ways so as to solve shared challenges within shared communities.