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{
    "id": 1186629,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1186629/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 435,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Leah Sankaire (",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Kajiado County, UDA): Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I thank you for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution to this debate which I totally oppose because it has a lot of issues. When I look at it, I think we should not have it here. I am particularly drawn to a line that says that a number of people own large tracks of land which is not utilised optimally. I come from a pastoral community where we rear livestock. Land is the backbone for our livelihoods. From the livestock, we get school fees for our children. We also get money to build our houses and basically, that is our way of life. We need six acres of land to feed one cow per year. If I have 100 cows, I will need 600 acres of land to feed them in one year. It is wrong to imply that because my land is not farmed, it is idle land. For me, rearing of cows is a business that is economically viable for our community. That is our way of life and that is how we do it. So, by judging that my land is idle, I just want to know the mechanism or the yardstick that has been used to see land in my place and imagine that it is idle. Simply because my way of life is not your way of life, should not mean that our land is idle. Some of us are not farmers, and if we are farmers, we are livestock farmers. If I do not plough my land and you pass by and see a large piece of land that has not been farmed, that does not mean that it is idle land. My cows are my source of livelihood and this is Kenya where everyone is free to own land and sell it at their own free will to a willing seller and a willing buyer. If I am not willing to sell mine, the Government should not compel me and tell me how much acreage I should own. Some of us have communal land and this is our ancestral land. We inherited it from our parents. If someone did not inherit from their parents and they see mine that I inherited, they should not imply that it is idle land and that I should share it with them. It is viably giving me income. It is there for the posterity of our families. I urge this House to completely disown this Motion and throw it away in totality. This Motion is not going anywhere."
}