Access to basic information in regards to land acquisition and land rights still remains a challenge affecting indigenous women in Maasai community of Kenya. Majority of women heavy depend on land other natural resources for survival due to the fact many of them didn’t attend education hence lacking skills to secure employments in many fields in the country.in Kenya 60% of the land is administered by customary tenure, which governs inheritance and tittle ownership. These rules are often discriminatory towards women. Across the country, women run three-quarter of its farms, yet only two percent of tittle deeds are held solely by women. In Maasai community, men strongly believe that land belong to them and other properties as their culture spells and the women are also counted as properties.
Olorukoti resource and knowledge have tried shedding light to women in this place. Anytime we conduct a training and ask questions on whom does he land belong the obvious chorus answer is “it belongs to men and they control everything in the family and the only thing that women own is a house and milk from cows at the same time they are associated with poor or less performing children in the family”. Women admitted that they absolutely have no right over land ownership and other properties and anytime the man feels there a need to use he will always use without the consent of his wife. “our work as women is just to use our eyes but not our mouths in Maa community men are always right in the family and women have no Audacity to question anything since everything is provided by men during marriage to be very sincere I was married to a wrong partner since I couldn’t be given an opportunity to decide to my own the same thing is applicable when a man wants to sell the land he doesn’t enquire from you” a statement from one them during the training.90% of the women in the trainings we conducted in Kilgoris central,Shankoe,Keyian and kimintet are completely innocent about tittle deeds and other land related documents and how they are acquired and used .
Trainings are very interesting especially when they can converse with the facilitator in the local language and anytime the open their mouths they can’t forget to bless Lucy Mulenkei for such an initiative of opening their minds and eyes and shed light to them it’s a great milestone. They always regret why the initiative didn’t start earlier when the women were being oppressed and terrorized and nobody could show them the way. After the trainings they always go back to the village and crusade for other women to ensure their rights are fully advocated. A number of women have visited the land office since a rapport was built between them and the office during the trainings and they are very comfortable visiting the place anytime they suspect there something the husband is trying to do in private concerning the land. It’s a great success currently as a type here women are owning land and possessing the necessary documents like title deeds also they can caution their lands so that nothing can be done on it without their consent. Men on the other side are now supporting their women by donating some land to their women where some have planted sugarcane plantations while those of small scale have planted kitchen gardens where they generate an income at the end which they will use to pay school fees, built nice houses and pay other expenses in the family. They have proved to their husbands and the community at large that they can also perform better when given the opportunity and they are no longer left behind in decision making.