Maasai group ranches, minority land owners, and the political landscape of Laikipia County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Recent land conflicts in Laikipia County, Kenya, have re-ignited debates about the future of minority land ownership in eastern Africa. With climate change, foreign investment, and population growth placing unprecedented pressure on lands, Laikipia has become a “battleground” for land struggles involving some of Kenya's most alienated ethnic and racial groups. Providing ethnographic insight into land politics in Laikipia in the lead up to the 2017 general elections, this article examines the relationships between Laikipia's Maasai communities and three distinct private land parcels that neighbor them. While significant segments of land in Laikipia are owned by foreigners or Kenyans of European descent, the county is home to other minority landowners whose political significance is underappreciated. Though the owners of some large ranches in Laikipia see neighboring pastoralists as liabilities, others see them as a source of political capital or allies in the struggle to secure their land tenure. Overall, I show that Laikipia's political landscape is defined by actors who defy the black-white, rancher-pastoralist dichotomy, and make a case for the qualitative study of land politics at a time when Kenya's future is shaped by high-stakes alliances between historically dissonant communities.

KEYWORDS:

• Laikipia
• politics
• land conflict
• white settlers
• Maasai
• elections
• Kenya

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to John Galaty and JEAS's anonymous reviewers for their assistance in bringing this article to fruition. I am also grateful to the British Institute in Eastern Africa's Freda Nkirote and Joost Fontein for promoting and supporting my research in Kenya. Thanks as well to Jason Mosley, the JEAS editorial board, and the participants in Laikipia who made the study possible. Funding for fieldwork was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, l’Institut Français de recherche en Afrique, the British Institute in Eastern Africa, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Graham R. Fox http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2234-0359

Notes

1. Galaty, “Ha(l)ving Land in Common,” 111.

2. Deloitte, “International Tax Kenya Highlights 2017.” See: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Tax/dttl-tax-kenyahighlights-2017.pdf?nc=1

3. McIntosh, Unsettled, 75.

4. Hughes, Moving the Maasai.

5. Jones, “Decolonization of White Highlands,” 189; Wasserman, “Continuity and Counter-Insurgency,” 144.

6. Warurii, “Inter-Ethnic Conflicts,” np.

7. The Telegraph, “‘I Dreamed of Africa’ author Kuki Gallmann shot and wounded at Kenya conservation park,” 23 April 2017. See: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/23/dreamed-africa-author-kuki-gallmann-shot-wounded-kenya-conservation/

8. Carrier and Kochore, “Navigating Ethnicity,” 147.

9. D’Arcy and Cornell, “Everyone's Turn to Eat?,” 248.

10. Ibid.

11. Cheeseman et al., “Democracy and Its Discontents,” 18.

12. Lund and Boone, “Land Politics in Africa,” 1.

13. The names of several persons and properties in this study have been changed to protect participants’ anonymity. Some geographic descriptions have also been deliberately obfuscated.

14. Letai, “Land Deals in Kenya,” 1.

15. Interview, Sarah Korere, Marley Ranch, 22 December 2015.

16. For a detailed study of how pastoralists in Laikipia engage in ‘illegal’ grazing practices, see Wade, “Strategic Use of Private Property.”

17. Personal communication, Simon Lekorere, Marley Ranch, 2 September 2015.

18. Dixon proposed that each cattle owner pay Simon 200 shillings per cow to graze on Marley for a period of one month, with the option of extending the agreement if the drought continued. The number of cows would total about 300 head, a profitable opportunity for Simon.

19. For a prospectus on qat chewing in the Mount Kenya region, see Carrier, Kenyan Khat.

20. Personal communication, Dixon Ole Kasana, Ol Tome, 5 September 2015.

21. Sobania, “Defeat and Dispersal,” 107.

22. Cronk, “Contested Ethnicity in Kenya,” 35.

23. Ibid., 39.

24. Kanyinga and Long, “Political Economy of Reform,” 39.

25. The Jubilee Alliance refers to the coalition of political parties made up of Uhuru Kenyatta's National Alliance, William Ruto's United Republican Party, and several others. This alliance was victorious in Kenya's 2013 election, placing Kenyatta as President and Ruto as Vice President.

26. Kenya News Agency, “‘Maa’ Speakers from Isiolo and Laikipia Counties Agree to Keep Peace,” 16 December 2016. See: http://kenyanewsagency.go.ke/en/maa-speakers-from-isiolo-and-laikipia-counties-agree-to-keep-peace/

27. The Standard, “MP Sarah Korere – Why I Breastfed My Baby in Parliament,” 19 February 2015. See: https://www.sde.co.ke/thenairobian/article/2000152252/mp-sarah-korere-why-i-breastfeed-my-baby-in-parliament

28. Personal communication, Sarah Korere, Marley Ranch, 1 January 2016.

29. Schedler, “Democratization by Elections,” 110.

30. Hornsby, “A History Since Independence,” 97.

31. Elliot, “Planning, Property and Plots,” 516.

32. Hendrickson et al. “The Changing Nature of Conflict and Famine Vulnerability,” 188.

33. Personal communication, Peter Lekorere, Marley Ranch, 20 February 2018.

34. Nyambura et al., “Politics of Laikipia County,” 463.

35. Yurco, “Herders and Herdsmen,” np.

36. Personal communication, Agnes Ole Meshami, 29 June 2016.

37. Rutherford, “‘Settlers’ and Zimbabwe,” 550.

38. Schluter, Constraints on Kenya's exports, 45.

39. Van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism in Kenya, 9.

40. Little, “Economic and Political Reform in Africa,” 73.

41. Personal communication, Sandra Barlette, Ematua Ranch, 5 May 2016.

42. Ibid.

43. Personal communication, James Ole Mamai, Ol Tome, 18 March 2016.

44. Personal communication, Joseph Ole Mpati, Mukogodo Ward, 20 May 2016.

45. Personal communication, Sarah Lekorere, Marley Ranch, 7 August 2016.

46. Hughes, Whiteness in Zimbabwe, 103.

47. Personal communication, James Ole Mamai, Ol Tome, 5 June 2016.

48. Hidalgo and Nichter, “Voter buying,” 437.

49. Personal communication, Sayed Hawar, Mukenya Ranch, 29 June 2016.

50. Little, “Economic and Political Reform in Africa,” 72–3.

51. McIntosh, Unsettled, 52.

52. Neumann, Imposing Wilderness.

53. Fox, “The Politics of Conservation in Northern Kenya,” np.

54. Personal communication, Sarah Korere, Nairobi, 26 February 2018.

55. Manji, “The Politics of Land Reform in Kenya 2012,” 125.

56. Lund and Boone, “Land Politics in Africa,” 2.

57. D’Arcy and Cornell, “Trapped Minorities,” 248.

58. Igoe and Brockington, “Neoliberal Conservation,” 435; Norton-Griffiths, “The Marginal Wildebeest,” 1574.

59. Boone, “Distributive Land Politics in Kenya,” 76; Greiner, “Economies of Anticipation,” 530.

60. Hughes, Whiteness in Zimbabwe, 101; McIntosh, Unsettled, 3.

61. Kanyinga, “Legacy of White Highlands,” 331.

62. The Washington Post, “Conservationist, Author of ‘I Dreamed of Africa’ Ambushed and Shot at Her Ranch in Kenya.” 24 April 2017. See: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/04/24/conservationist-author-of-i-dreamed-of-africa-shot-at-her-ranch-in-kenya/?utm_term=.d5962e1c56a5

Additional information

Funding

Funding for fieldwork was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, l’Institut Français de recherche en Afrique, Nairobi, the British Institute in Eastern Africa, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.