Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the dynamics of urban land grabbing by political elites in Kenya, and the ways in which land as a public good is negotiated and claimed in the city of Eldoret in particular. I argue that struggles over land grabbing in Kenya have become emblematic of postcolonial urban politics.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the dynamics of urban land grabbing by political elites in Kenya, and the ways in which land as a public good is negotiated and claimed in the city of Eldoret in particular. In Kenya, 'land grabbing' refers to the privatisation of public land through illegal or irregular allocation. Organised in complex networks involving various actors from the private and public sectors, land grabbing has been rampant in urban areas since the country gained independence. These practices, located both in the formal and informal realms, have led to the accumulation of wealth and land by Kenyan elites, and have become central in popular discourses on corruption. On a more practical level, space for public utilities in urban areas has become scarce, thus affecting urban governance and planning. Land grabbing is currently being addressed by institutions aiming at repossessing grabbed land, as well as by citizens using new forms of expression and mobilisation to claim their rights to public space and facilities. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the secondary city of Eldoret, located in Kenya's Rift Valley, the paper traces the historical trajectory of land grabbing in Kenya and looks at the discourses and strategies deployed by various -and often competing- actors. By shedding light on the ways in which processes of property making, state making and citizen making interact, I argue that struggles over land grabbing in Kenya have become emblematic of postcolonial urban politics, while also carrying promises of change and of a better future.