l"CHP'9 ,,~ r) 6~!jE:f{ •uuxm Human and Peoples' Rights Humao A,ghts ou, Collective Responsibility 180. The Commission notes that there are several ways of acquiring land ownership, namely by original occupation or for an immemorial period, acquisition through occupation for a certain period (adverse possession), purchase, inheritance, gift, or assignment by the competent authorities. 181 . In the present case, the relevant form of acquisition is the original occupation or by time immemorial, in the sense that the owners precede anyone else in the occupation of the land in question, or that they occupy it for times that no one can locate in time. 182. The Commission notes that in the present case, the Complainants' submissions indicate that the Maasai of Kedong have occupied the land claimed since the precolonial period and have resisted its occupation and appropriation by the colonial State, which resulted , according to the Complainants' submissions, in the signing of a treaty of recognition of ownership of the land claimed here between the British Empire and the Maasai. 183. The Commission note that by the terms of the Affidavit signed by William Sipai, in his own name and in the name of 30,000 Maasai, the Maasai of Kedong have lived on the lands claimed since time immemorial, and even after the arrival of the British in the 19th century, they are not aware of any other people who have occupied the lands in question. Mr. Sipai further states that under Anglo-Maasai terms, the British never used the land claimed here for agriculture and ownership of the land was recognized by the Maasai of Kedong. 184. The Commission considers that it has no reason to dispute the veracity of the facts reported by Affidavit, in the Complainants' submissions and in the Anglo-Maasai Agreement of 1904, under which a portion of the territory was reserved for the Maasai of Kedong. The Commission considers, however, that the ownership of the Maasai of Kedong does not depend on the validity of the agreement in question. The reference to the agreement here is only in the sense of the precedence or duration of the occupation of the lands in question. 185. Basis of the above, the Commission acknowledges the property right of the Kedong Maasai over the disputed lands, and the inherent right to a communal title deed that recognizes all the inherent rights, including the use, enjoyment and disposal, as well as the obligation of protection of the owners by the Respondent . any unauthorized or unconsented external interference, in accor: ~ ~11"'~ 0~·-, ~ ----01((\ African Charter and applicable international standards. J. t,I (b) The possibility of affecting the property .,,