Ogiek Community of Mt.Elgon Elect Community Land Management Committee
The election of Community Land Management Committee marks one of the crucial steps in the Ogiek people’s long journey to hold formal title to their land in Chepkitale.
On 25 June 2026, members of the Ogiek/Ndorobo community of Chepkitale met to elect members of Community Land Management Committee (CLMC), a step required under Kenya’s Community Land Act and a necessary milestone in the community land registration process.
The mood on the ground was one of determination and quiet celebration. For a community that has waited decades to have its claim to Chepkitale formally recognized.
Fifteen members were elected, drawn from the three sub-locations of Laboot, Toboo and Kipkama, and reflecting the different sections of the community. The two-thirds gender rule was observed, with five of the fifteen members being women.
Janet, one of the women elected to the committee, said she felt the weight of the responsibility she had been given. “As a woman, I have been elected as a member of the CLMC, and I am committed to working for the community,” she said. She added that the process had been carried out transparently and without disagreement.
That view was echoed by Chief Alfred Takur who stood in for the Community Land Registrar to oversee the elections. He described the exercise as free and fair, noting that all three sub-locations and all sections of the community were represented. According to him, the community was satisfied with those elected and now expects them to deliver. Their next major task, he said, is to draw up a register of all members.
Godfrey Naibei, elected to the committee as a youth representative, explained what guided the process and what lies ahead. “We followed the Community Land Act in conducting the election. I was elected as youth,” he said. “The main objective of the committee is to ensure the land is registered, that all due process is followed, and that at the end we have a community land title. That will give us a right to live in this land of Chepkitale.”
Naibei confirmed that the gender rule had been respected and that representation had come from all regions. The committee’s names, he explained, will now be forwarded to the county registrar and gazetted, after which the members can formally begin their work under the Community Land Act. As for how long it will take the community to finally receive a title, he was candid, “it will depend on the support, collaboration and goodwill of the various levels of government and of well-wishers”.
For the elders who have carried this struggle the longest, the day carried deep meaning. Murunga, a long-serving elder of the Chepkitale Ogiek Governing Council (COGC), reflected on the journey. “I have been an elder for the COGC for a very long time, and our main aim was to secure ownership of our land. Today marks a huge milestone towards that goal,” he said. “I wish to thank all who made this possible.”
He insisted that the community would not turn back. “I understand that the work of the CLMC is difficult, but we have come so far, and we shall continue pushing on,” he said. He was equally clear about who the land belongs to. “This land is for the community. It will be managed by the community. Ours is only to act on behalf of the community. We shall not make decisions without consulting the community.”
Government officials who came to witness the exercise used the occasion to remind the new committee of the standard expected of them. Felix Ingasia, Assistant County Commissioner for Mt. Elgon, said his office had come to confirm that those elected were genuinely from the community and that the process followed the law. “I call upon the elected members to work faithfully for the community,” he said. He noted that as the first CLMC, they will set the pace for every committee that comes after them.
Ingasia also appealed to community members to rally behind the committee so that a title can be secured sooner, and he tied the effort to a broader vision for the area. The goal, he said, is to advance conservation in Chepkitale- to protect the environment, the wildlife and the land itself.
The election was the product of years of patient support from organizations working alongside the community. John Samurai of the Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program (OPDP) confirmed that youth and women had been represented among those elected and that the process was fair. He explained that OPDP works with six forest communities across the country: the Ogiek of Mt. Elgon, the Ogiek of Mau in Nakuru and Narok, the Yaaku community of Laikipia in Mukogodo Forest, and the Sengwer of Trans Nzoia in Embobut.
The initial stages of registration, he said, come with many challenges, and the newly elected committee will now be trained to handle what lies ahead. Some of the obstacles were bureaucratic. Each county is required to submit an inventory, but the inventory for Bungoma County had not been submitted, which slowed the process until support from the Community Land Action Now (CLAN) network helped get it filed. Bungoma County also lacked a community land registrar; through sustained advocacy, Samurai said, all the officers needed to facilitate registration are now in place. He acknowledged, too, that political hurdles had slowed things down, with some politicians pursuing self-interest but, he said, the community and its partners never tired.
Peter Kitelo, Executive Director of the Chepkitale Indigenous Peoples Development Project (CIPDP), laid out how far the process has travelled and what remains. Registration began three years ago, he explained, when the community wrote a letter to the County Government, which forwarded it to the Ministry of Lands (submission of the inventory). The community then submitted CLA Form 1, which was gazetted. About a month before these elections, the Ministry of Lands conducted an outreach on community land registration, after which the community proceeded to elect the CLMC that will see the remaining steps through.
This kind of registration, Kitelo stressed, is not the work of one party. It depends on collaboration between the community, the County Government, the National Government, the National Land Commission, each playing a different role. The steps still to come include creating the community register, carrying out survey and adjudication, registering the community, and drawing up a constitution in line with the Community Land Act.
For the people of Chepkitale, the land belongs to the community. With a committee now in place, the Ogiek of Mt.Elgon are one step closer to receiving a community land title.
Ogiek of Mt.Elgon is one of 53 communities supported by CLAN! Under securing registered titles to our land project funded by the Tenure Facility.
Media links
https://web.facebook.com/reel/3192686554252892
https://web.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=1537999847707539&rdid=GNAnHnFFgXZ1YDuE