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{
    "id": 625272,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/625272/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 128,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. ole Kenta",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 420,
        "legal_name": "Richard Moitalel ole Kenta",
        "slug": "richard-moitalel-ole-kenta"
    },
    "content": "I would like to appreciate the contribution of the Member for Balambala. It was well- informed. I think that is the way we should go as far as this Bill is concerned. I come from a community that - as it has already been said - lost a lot of its land through dubious ways. As we are speaking, there is a parcel of land going by the name “Maasai Mau” measuring about 90,000 acres. It was sold by one family to unsuspecting members not knowing that you cannot sell trust land which has not been set apart and adjudicated. I am meant to understand that the Cabinet Secretary (CS) in charge of Land, Housing and Urban Development intends to validate titles that were never there. I take this opportunity to warn him to look for a good lawyer to advise him, if the State Law Office does not advise him anymore. It will be illegal and it should not be a political issue. Hon. Speaker, we have been told what “community” is, and the Constitution is very clear. The new Bill has left out important aspects of what a community is; one of them being the ethnic language. There is no community that does not have a language or an ethnic identity. I believe that some should be included. It should not be used to deprive anybody land, but be a safeguard to communities which are vulnerable from land grabbers and evil exploiters. As we speak, people own titles to blocks of land in Turkana and many other places. This Bill should be passed the soonest time possible to ensure that all those titles are nullified because there were titles in the first place. The land should be returned to the communities so that they can benefit from what they had before. I would like to advise the pastoralist communities and any other community because there is still community land all over the country to use legal means available to them to protect their land. Failure to do so will destroy the children from those communities forever. Hon. Speaker, many issues have been raised. There is Community Land Bill that was done in 2014 which has the best laws for governing that land. But for reasons best known to the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development--- The war between the National Land Commission (NLC) and the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development will cost Kenyans dearly. I believe that NLC must exercise its rights in consultation with the CS and the county governments to protect those communities. We will introduce amendments to ensure that what was done through wide consultations is implemented. I would like to commend the Committee because the Chairman gave us a chance to present our views. He listened to us and I think the Report is all inclusive. As you have said - and I support you - this Bill should involve all Members of this House because everybody comes from a particular community. However, it should not be a means to deprive people of their rights. Maybe, they have got rights by what we used to call “acceptism”. If people have been adopted - because it has happened in communities - they should also be taken care of. If you leave them out and they have lived for centuries amongst others, they will lose out. There is a community called “Isahakia” in Naivasha which was brought by Lord Delamare in the 18th Century. They do not know any other home. They are now like fugitives. When will they be given land? They are Kenyans like anybody else. I believe that this law should also look into the aspect of people like those. I do not want to take a lot of time because of the other Members who would like to speak. I would like to talk about the proposed Section 7 which talks about registration of communities. I believe that it is elitist because they say they should use the Societies Act. It is going to defeat the purpose of having this Bill. I believe that the registration of ownership within the Bill itself should be independent of any other. If we do not safeguard all the people involved as members, then we are going to suffer. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}