Land is very central to many African communities where both subsistence and economic activities are related to land in one way or other. Not surprisingly, countries have embarked on national land policy reforms as a necessary facet of their development agenda. Countries such as Kenya had a land reform program as part of the independence arrangement. It is striking that the reform program initiated in the mid-1990s in Kenya points to unfulfilled expectations dating from colonial times. Similarly, the ongoing constitution review process in Kenya has land ownership as a major issue that needs to be addressed in the final constitution. It is within this context that this presentation looks at the gender dimensions of land ownership laws in Kenya. It underscores the centrality of law in allocating legal rights and the gender dimensions in access to, control over and ownership of land. While highlighting existing imbalances in land ownership and the role of law in addressing them, the presentation points to the limits of law in engendering social transformation and the need to use other strategies to bridge the gap between law and practice.