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{
    "id": 1183495,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1183495/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 157,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kesses, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Julius Rutto",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you so much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I also rise to support the Motion on the land policy direction the Motion is seeking to address. First of all, as Members who have contributed earlier have alluded, land is an emotive issue. It is because of the nature of our economic arrangement. In Kenya, we have a mixed economy: both capital and social. The capitalists have made us believe that your wealth is measured by the extent or vastness of the land you have. The capitalists have made us believe that you have bases, you have glory and you have a name when you acquire a large chunk of land. That is where the problem began. This discussion has come at the right time when Kenya is facing many challenges, food insecurity being one of them. We have the challenge of housing and now the Government is going towards affordable housing. Even as we look at this issue of the minimum and maximum land one needs to hold, we also need to ask many questions around it. The biggest question we need to ask is even on those existing lands and the troubles families are going through because of succession, inheritance and cultural challenges. It my opinion that the Government takes lead on this. We need a multi-agency approach on these issues. We need the right advice to our families which are fighting in courts. We have lands without title deeds because of cases that run way back. I have one in my Kesses Constituency called Kesses KLG. After the mzungu left, some shareholders deceived others that their land is there. They have gone to court after court. It is now almost 60 years and that matter has not been addressed. My approach is that as we look at this, we need a serious land policy to articulate land matters. If they are litigation issues, we also need to see how courts can come in and give us alternative ways to address land disputes so that we speed up cases of land troubles then we get back to our original glory when Kenya was self-sustaining in food production. On land fragmentation, it is a reality and you see it everywhere you move. I was travelling the other day to Nanyuki. Between Nyeri and Nanyuki, there is serious advertisement and marketing of land that ought to be there for production. It is being fragmented for settlement. We need to ask ourselves how much it profits to own five acres or two acres of land just to put your house there yet you stay in Nairobi. You only go there on holiday and you have denied an opportunity for rearing animals in that area or for cultivation for economic activity and for food security. I rise to make my submission that we need to ask the national Government and county governments to come together. We need serious policies to address even the issue of physical planning. Right now, this land fragmentation comes with other challenges. Essential and auxiliary services like sewer lines, access to water and access to power that are required is becoming a challenge. It is not just roads. Even making connection roads is becoming a The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for informationpurposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}