Land in Kenya is both complex and emotive as a number of people have lost their lives over it due to high degree of inequality in ownership, access and use. Based on where people live, their ancestry and form of land acquisition have often fueled land related conflicts. This study sought to understand the determinants of land conflicts and their impacts on social cohesion in Nakuru, one of the cosmopolitan counties in Kenya. The study is grounded on these objectives: to establish historical development of Land Tenure disputes, to examine deployed Land Tenure systems and challenges to secure land ownership and their implications on social cohesion. The study is underpinned on the Entitlement Theory and used mixed method research design with a sample size of 500 respondents. The research established that historical land disputes have negative implications on social cohesion; deployed land tenure systems did not provide necessary security and stability to land owners; while issues of negative ethnicity, divisive politics, widespread corruption, unresolved historical injustices, among other factors, impede the attainment of secure land ownership in Kenya, leading to conflicts. The study recommends for sustainable efforts to ensure secure and stable land ownership, enforcement of laws criminalizing political incitements and ethnic hate speeches; frantic fight against corruption, involvement of communities in seeking solution to historical land injustices and sensitizing community members against negative to enhance social cohesion.

Keywords : Land Conflicts, Social Cohesion, Land Ownership