One year on from Lang’ata: Why public schools in Kenya are still at risk

One year ago, Kenya was rocked by the teargassing and violence used to stop the reclamation of the Lang’ata Road Primary School. Using exclusive primary research, the Kenya Dialogues Project (KDP) at the Society for International Development civil society, in partnership with eight civil society organisations released figures to demonstrate that Kenya’s 29,151 schools are still at risk of land-grabbing. Interviews with 3,400 Head Teachers reveals that 83% of public schools in Kenya are currently without title-deeds or lease certificates. 41 % of public schools are at risk of encroachment or grabbing and 14% (about 4,100) of schools in Kenya have reported cases of land contestation, encroachment or grabbing to the National Land Commission. These and other findings contained in the report were captured six months after the 22nd January 2015 Presidential Directive to have all primary and secondary public schools in Kenya titled.

Video: Society for International Development (SID) Associate Director, Irūngū Houghton issues a statement on the state of school land grabbing in Kenya and National Land Commission (NLC) Land Administrator, Odima Otieno updates the media on the progress made by the National Land Commission in titling public schools in Kenya. Watch here

Policy Brief: One Year on from Lang’ata: Why Public Schools are Still at Risk (18 January 2016) Download here

SID blog: Kenyans should assertively protect public schools from further land grabbing (Leonard Wanyama). Read more

Photo: Lavington Primary School Deputy Headteacher, Margaret Kilonzo and SID Associate Director Irungu Houghton plant a billboard declaring that a 2 acres piece of land, that was at risk of being grabbed, as belonging to Lavington Primary School.