Double Gain, Double Loss: Property Rights and Dispossession Surrounding Kenya’s Rail Project

There is growing interest in how rural transformations due to mega-infrastructure projects in Africa are causing widening inequalities. We examine the impact of Kenya’s Nairobi–Mombasa standard gauge railway (SGR) on land tenure, property rights, and dispossession in Voi town, southeastern Kenya. Drawing from frontier and neo-colonial theoretical perspectives, we argue that large-scale infrastructure projects in Africa facilitate resource extraction and deepen local inequalities through land commodification, speculation, and elite accumulation. Through an ethnographic case-study approach involving fieldwork, interviews, and focus group discussions, the research highlights the complex interplay between infrastructure development and tenure insecurity. By analysing three cases we show how different land tenure systems—private, group, and public land—offered varying degrees of protection and vulnerability. We find that while private titling provides some security, it also encourages speculative sell-outs, exacerbating inequalities. Group land tenure arrangements, including a novel Community Land Trust (CLT) model, offer more robust protection against dispossession and fragmentation. We conclude with policy recommendations for stronger legal frameworks, including proactive land governance frameworks surrounding infrastructure projects, better protection of public land, and education on land rights, while calling for an inquiry into irregular land acquisitions surrounding the SGR itself.