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{
    "id": 118635,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/118635/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 313,
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    "content": "was made, there was a historical problem. The Government made a decision in order to protect River Tana. But since then, things have changed and there is a relief now. I am happy that this policy attempts to address some of the historical injustices that might have happened. I am also happy that the Minister and the Ministry are aware; just as there are historical injustices that happened in the Coast Province during colonial times. We do not accept these injustices and the Minister wants to use the document as a policy to redress it. So, just like our brothers and sisters in Coast Province require assistance in terms of injustices that were committed, I am saying that certain aspects of injustice also happened in the north east, which is evident. Right now, I have visited the Minister’s offices many times trying to assist farmers from Wajir who have got farms in Garissa and who require title deeds. Every time a document is required, they have to travel all the way from Wajir to the Coast Province to get it. Some of these things are so evident that we do not need to quarrel over them; we are Kenyans and we want to speak as one people. We want to redress what happened. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am happy that this policy begins to give us an entry point and an exit point regarding redressing what has happened in the past. Therefore, there is reason for the Minister to solve these injustices and to have a discussion with the leadership of the province so that we can be able to resolve these injustices once and for all and live as good neighbors with our brothers and sisters in Coast Province. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this policy also acknowledges community land. Now, the pastoral community in this country can only survive as a community; we cannot survive individually because of the fact that we are involved in a certain economic activity that the land must belong to the community in order for everybody to be able to have an opportunity to graze his animals. Otherwise, if you subdivided the land and gave it to individuals, there is the danger that we will kill such a very important economic activity. During colonial times and even after colonial times, perhaps, not everything that the colonial masters did was bad. For example, some of the aspects they took care of in terms of the management of the grazing land, they were quite careful to protect the pastoral lifestyle. They knew that these areas are inhabited by communities and the communities called themselves either tribes or clans. So that they do not necessarily take advantage of the settlement of another area, they had clear geographical definitions. Therefore, once we review the law because this is the policy, I would like to see that, perhaps, we borrow some of those important aspects of grazing management that the colonial Government actually had because it helped the livestock farmers greatly. Finally, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is good that this policy decentralizes planning from Nairobi all the way to the regions. I would like to urge the Minister not only to wait for this policy but to begin the decentralization now. Many districts are being created every day; the districts require planning and the Department of Planning in the Ministry is doing an excellent job, but it is handicapped by resources. The whole of Wajir District has now been sub-divided into four, and every district now requires planning. Each requires a new district headquarters and new facilities. But there is only one officer, for example, in the greater Wajir District who has got only one vehicle. Is he expected to manage 54,000 to 60,000 square kilometers of land for the whole of Wajir District? We require more officers on the ground so that this policy can now begin to be implemented effectively, even as we discuss it."
}