TAMU, Muhoroni July 3,- For years, ageing women Gladys Ochieng, Jane Akeyo, and Linet Akinyi have faced long-standing frustrations in accessing land, title deeds, and matrimonial property rights through the formal court system.
Their legal battles have dragged on for years, often stalled by bureaucracy, high legal costs, and gender-based discrimination.
Local Mediation
Tired of the delays and lack of resolution, they are now turning to alternative justice systems—such as local mediation, elders’ councils, and community-based dispute resolution mechanisms—in hopes of finding quicker, fairer outcomes to reclaim their rightful property.
When this writer attended a service week at the Tamu law courts recently, we found the women at the forefront in raising their frustration with access to justice.
Here are two brief, quoted-style paragraphs for each of the three women, capturing their frustrations lamenting how accessing land often means battling bureaucracy and corruption.
After years of stalled court cases and hefty legal fees, Gladys is now seriously considering mediation through elders’ councils and community-based dispute resolution. She believes these alternatives offer faster, fairer access to justice than the law courts.
Akeyo recalls obtaining her title by secretly “influencing officials” and using creative tricks to outmanoeuvre in—laws, showing how the system demands not just persistence but cunning and money.
Frustrated with years of delays and discrimination, she’s also exploring local customary tribunals and elder mediation as practical alternatives.
After all, “alternative justice implies justice… outside our rigid, slow-moving court system.” she claimed
Akinyi watched as her husband attempted to sell off marital land while a court case dragged on, powerless.
“I’m still waiting for a ruling to stop him from selling our land under me. It won’t happen. Okabiyie (I will not accept),” she says.
Fed up with the costs and slowness of the courts—and the way patriarchal traditions sideline women—Akinyi is now turning to alternative justice structures.
Succession Ordeals
She hopes local mediation can help enforce her rights more swiftly and effectively even as emotions ran high with many Tamu Residents like the rest of the others in Kisumu County demanding Justice in the Rights Crisis.
This was openly evident during an open community engagement forum hosted by the UHAI Lake Forum in partnership with Judiciary staff from Tamu Law Courts, during the service week as the victims openly disclosed their land succession ordeal.
The session, which sought to address deeply entrenched land rights and inheritance challenges, turned into an emotional outpouring of frustration, grief, and cautious hope.
Dozens of men and women, some elderly, some widowed, and many from vulnerable groups, spoke openly about their battles navigating Kenya’s complex and costly judicial system — particularly when dealing with land succession, inheritance, and matrimonial property disputes.
“For years it has felt like a hidden game of musical chairs and endless delays,” said Mary Atieno, a local resident who has spent nearly a decade trying to secure rights to her family’s land.
“We now have hope through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)” she said amid sobs. But she wasn’t alone.
Her sentiment was echoed by others like Ochieng, Akinyi and Alice Owino, who recounted their inability to access justice due to missing land records, the double issuance of title deeds, and limited knowledge of legal procedures.
UHAI Lake Forum CEO Mark Omondi addressed the gathering with empathy and urgency, underscoring the need to move beyond litigation toward more accessible, community-centred justice options.
“Some people are selling their property just to pursue justice through succession cases, and many still fail or die before succeeding,” Omondi claimed.
“This is not just a legal issue — it’s a human crisis that’s increasing poverty and stripping people of dignity.”
Omondi underscored the importance of ADR mechanisms — including arbitration, conciliation, and dialogue as more affordable and inclusive ways to settle land disputes.
He specifically urged Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and other marginalised groups to embrace ADR as a practical tool for asserting their rights without being burdened by prohibitive legal costs.
Community Paralegals
The initiative, he noted, is being carried out in collaboration with the Office of the County Commissioner, led by Benson Leparmorijo, who, in his absence, delegates his deputies to action.
“This includes the training of community-based paralegals who can help locals understand and claim their legal rights,’’ explained Omondi.
These grassroots legal aides, the Uhai Lake Forum CEO says, are being empowered to handle issues related to land inheritance, succession, matrimonial property, and broader land justice.
According to Victor Mwango, the Tamu Court Administrator, who attended the public service workshop, reaffirmed the Judiciary’s commitment to supporting community-led justice solutions.
“We are working to ensure that justice is not only seen to be done, but is truly accessible to every citizen — efficiently, equitably, and with dignity,” he said.
The Tamu program is part of a broader access-to-justice initiative targeting women and persons with disabilities in Kisumu County.
It is supported by the European Union in Kenya and UNDP Kenya, and implemented through the Amkeni Wakenya Civil Society Democratic Governance Facility.
Omondi thanked development partners for their continued support, stressing that public education and awareness around alternative justice systems are key to transforming how ordinary Kenyans resolve disputes.
“Our communities are not powerless,” the Uhai Lake Forum CEO said, while urging that, “With the right tools, they can take back control of their justice journey.”
