African Land Rights Systems

Acknowledgments

v Acknowledgments The issue of land rights is apparently neglected in African studies on ethics, culture, and religion. The reason is that land is understood as a matter to be exploited to satisfy human needs. Studies on land, from the perspective of the existing literature, have been left to geographers, lawyers, historians, and sociologists who present land-related issues in terms of reports that lack critical analyses, hermeneutical insights, ethical questions, and transformative suggestions. The concept of land, seemingly, comes to the ethical discourse from the sidelines, not straightforwardly in the manner we expect because of its importance. This book is enriched by interviews I had with people affected by land-related clashes, evictions, and civil wars from Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Sudan. Among those I interviewed include victims of eviction from the slums and refugees from the camps of Kakuma in Kenya, Rhino Camp in Uganda, and Mishamo Resettlement Scheme in Kigoma, Tanzania. I also interviewed scholars, activists, and officials working in the department of migration attempting to address problems accompanying cross-border migration and intra-state displacement. I have also interviewed people working in research centers, including Jesuit Hakimani Center in Nairobi, Kenya and reporters of the events of land-related conflicts in Mtwara and Arusha, Tanzania. Graduate theses that I have supervised at the Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations, Hekima College, Nairobi, Kenya and elsewhere, for many years, have also helped me to be familiar with African land rights systems, a perspective that I explore in this book. The vi people I interviewed from many parts of Africa on this subject make the ideas that I present in this book contextual and timely. The study, nonetheless, does not intend to present a report of these experiences. It does not even confine itself within the parameters of philosophy, history, or theology. Its scope cuts across many disciplines of study with an intention of producing effective methodologies of addressing problems related to land rights systems. My hope is that this approach will contribute to a better understanding of the conditions surrounding land disputes. It is my hope that this book will serve as a resource for those who are involved in the effort of resolving land disputes, resettlement, and integration. I am convinced that questions raised will produce a renewed motivation to examine African land rights systems. Many people deserve appreciation for their assistance in the course of writing this book. I owe a debt of gratitude to Peter Clark, S.J., and Joseph Godfrey, S.J., from the Jesuit Community at Saint Joseph’s University, Pennsylvania. I am grateful to the Jesuit Community as a whole for providing me a supportive environment for research. On this account I am grateful to Brendan Lally, S.J., Rector of the Jesuit Community, and Michael Hricko, S.J., the Administrator of the same Jesuit Community. They granted me facility, time, and care I needed to undertake an academic writing. The encouragement and companionship that came from my Jesuit colleagues from other parts of the United States of America, especially from Paul Fitzgerald, S.J., at Fairfield University and William O’Neill, S.J., at Santa Clara University, also proved to be helpful. I am also grateful to Saint Joseph’s University for granting me Donald MacLean Chair for one academic year. The three public lectures I presented at the university reshaped my ideas vii on land rights. The academic staff and students helped me to shape certain aspects of my research and writing. The library personnel helped me to get the books that I could not get in African libraries. I am sincerely grateful to them. Finally, many thanks go to those who wrote the books and articles that I cited. To end the vote of thanksgiving I cannot forget those who read the manuscript with a view to improve my contribution. On this account I remember Prof. James Redington, S.J., Dr. Festo Mkenda, S.J., Dr. Thaddeus C. Raezknoski, Joan Delvin, and Donald Ward, S.J. Those that I cannot mention here I am also grateful to their assistance. viii ...