Gender Dynamics in African Land Redistribution and Alternative Justice Systems: Insights from Kenya and Zimbabwe

Alternative Justice Systems (AJS) play a fundamental role in conflict resolution in contemporary African societies. Most of these disputes revolve around struggles for land control and ownership rights. This emanates from the long-standing colonial land imbalances that posed governance challenges, particularly those related to Africans’ demand for equitable land distribution. This study investigates how AJS mediates land-related disputes in Africa, focusing on cases involving women in selected rural parts of Kenya and Zimbabwe. We argue that racial and patriarchal colonial land policies disrupted the pre-colonial African mechanisms used to govern access to land and justice. Most postcolonial African states enacted land laws and established justice systems that mirrored the values of the regimes they replaced. These policies are primarily based on pre-colonial and colonial patriarchal tendencies, creating bias in the arbitration process by marginalising women’s positions and roles in AJS. We also highlight stereotypes often attached to women participating in land redistribution programmes and AJS in the societies under investigation. This study deploys a qualitative research methodology through in-depth interviews. The information gathered was then complemented by data obtained through careful analysis of archival records, policy briefs, and media reports.