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{
    "id": 127494,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/127494/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 373,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, there has been a perception that political leaders in this area do not want the people to move out. While we have continued to interact with them, I have found that they are willing to cooperate with the Government in the process of relocating the people from Mau. It should be noted that the Government initially did invite people to Mau but over a period, we had another group of people who were like third party victims who came and bought land from the original allotees and settled in Mau. There is another group that without caring about the destruction of our environment, moved into Mau with the purpose of doing illegal logging, making charcoal, yet they had no documents. So, while the Task Force was on the ground, this fact was obvious and now it remains for the Government to deal with this matter. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is important that the fact is recognised that those Kenyans who were given land by the Government must be compensated. These are many. As to exactly how many they are, the co-ordinating committee that was formed recently, will go on the ground and ensure the exact number with valid documents. However, at the end of the KANU regime, I am not very sure, even as recent as five years ago; some of the so called Title Deeds that were being issued in this country were not genuine. So, it is possible that in Mau, many people will come with title deeds. However, it is our responsibility, as a Government, to do an audit of the title deeds and ensure that fraudulent title deeds are not taken on board. There has been a perception that everybody who is in Mau will be compensated. I want to share some information with the House. As soon as we started talking about relocating some of the people from the Mau, we have had opportunists who have moved there with the hope that, should the Government be compensating the residents of Mau, they will also be considered. We are quite aware of that and we will make sure that the people to be compensated will be properly audited by the Ministry of Lands, whose docket decides whether or not a title deed is valid. There are several recommendations of this report. I do not seek to enumerate all of them, but I want to mention a few. We do realize that boundaries on the ground need to be looked at again and demarcation of the 22 forest blocks must be done. We will set up a conflict and resolution mechanism to address conflict arising from use of natural resources. We will fast-track the reforms in the forest sector. We will develop integrated restoration and management plans. In fact, there is a draft management plan in place and we are hoping that the secretariat will use some of the documents that are in our Ministry. We will work very closely with the secretariat to ensure that we make their task easier by giving them every historical document that they may need. We will develop an investment document and convene a conference on mobilisation of timely and adequate resources. We intend to reclaim back approximately 4,000 hectares that were excised in 2001, but have not been settled on; we will revert the land to Government Forest Reserve. The Ministry of Lands will revoke all title deeds issued in the Likia extension, currently occupied and reclaim the area as a Government forest reserve. We will revoke all the title deeds that were issued either irregularly or illegally in the settlement schemes in the Maasai Mau Forest."
}