NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 23 – Indigenous Peoples and local communities across Kenya have launched a renewed nationwide push to compel the government to fully implement the stalled community land reform law, warning that millions of hectares remain legally insecure nearly a decade after Parliament passed the 2016 Community Land Act.Through the“Sajili Ardhi ya Jamii” campaign, community representatives are now demanding urgent reforms to accelerate registration and issuance of title deeds for communal land, arguing that bureaucratic delays, high costs, and administrative bottlenecks have left vast areas vulnerable to land grabs, displacement, and climate-related shocks.Although the Community Land Act (Kenya) 2016 was designed to formalise ownership of ancestral and communal lands, implementation has remained slow.Out of an estimated 1,000 community land units across the country, only about sixty-four have been successfully registered, leaving the vast majority in legal limbo.“Without land titles, the communities are vulnerable to land grabs, unfair investor deals, climate-related crises, conflicts and displacement,” the campaign states,Collectively, communities are estimated to steward roughly 34 million hectares of land—nearly 60% of Kenya’s total landmass—much of it in arid and semi-arid regions where pastoralist and indigenous livelihoods depend heavily on secure tenure.Campaign organisers say the current registration process is prohibitively expensive and overly complex, with some communities reportedly facing costs of up to KSh 20 million to complete adjudication and titling.For most rural and marginalised communities, such costs are far beyond reach, effectively locking them out of the system intended to protect them.Without formal title deeds, community lands remain exposed to competing claims, speculative investment, weak bargaining power in development deals, and escalating conflicts over resources.Advocates also warn that climate change is intensifying pressure on already fragile ecosystems, making land insecurity an even greater threat.The campaign is calling for a complete overhaul of the implementation framework, including the creation of a faster, cheaper, and community-led registration model.Key proposals include allowing communities to lead mapping and boundary identification, introducing a mass registration approach, and amending related laws such as the Adjudication Act and Survey Act to remove procedural bottlenecks.Organisers have set an ambitious target: full registration of all community lands by 2030.The Sajili Ardhi ya Jamii Campaign brings together a coalition of civil society and community organisations, including the Drylands Learning and Capacity Building Initiative, Community Land Action Now!, Kituo Cha Sheria Legal Advice Centre, Namati, IMPACT (Indigenous Movement for Peace Advancement & Conflict Transformation), Natural Justice, and the Pastoralist Parliamentary Group.