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Kenya: Women Land Owners Still Low Despite Reforms

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4 years ago

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Nairobi — The number of women who own land in Kenya remains low, despite constitutional reforms that have granted them equal property rights.

John Mwaura, the Chief Executive Officer at Finsco Africa, while admitting that the number of women who buy land and houses risen, he identified a gap in the ratio of buyers between men and women.

“Men are still the leading owners of properties, be it houses or land. A majority of title deeds that we issue still go to men. However, we are beginning to see an increase in the number of women acquiring properties,” Mwaura said.

The real estate expert has called upon the government and industry players to institute more measures that will encourage more women to own property.

For instance, the CEO said the Ministry of Land could run sensitization campaigns that show the benefits of having more women owning land.

He said the move would shun cultural beliefs that discourage women from owning property.

“More than ever before, so many women are now running homes single-handedly while others are leading companies. Our roads have millions of women driving heavy machines. The same should apply when it comes to owning land and buying houses.”

“Just like the society benefits by education girls, the society will benefit if more women-owned properties.”

He also urged real estate developers to offer incentives to women to encourage them to buy properties.

A study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) shows that the number of women registered as landowners is less than seven percent.