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{
    "id": 1278187,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1278187/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 207,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Central Imenti, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Moses Kirima",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Hon. Temporary Speaker, thank you very much, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this important Motion. First and foremost, I support the Motion by my colleague, Hon. Mwenje as it relates to the people who are squatting in various parts of the country. There is no land which comes from heaven like manna. Every land has its origin, the owners and its occupiers especially in rural areas where we know land is owned by clans and communities. No one in Kenya came from nowhere. Every person has his own origin, but Kenyans have a way of expanding and occupying what does not belong to them. Therefore, there must be checks and balances. There must be a policy on how to regulate and take care of those who are genuine and non-genuine squatters. There must be a way of counter checking who has been born... There is a law which talks about when one can acquire land which does not belong to that individual. In common law, we have what we call adverse possession. That is well provided for in law where one occupies a piece of land for 12 years and if that occupation is not disputed, or with the permission of the owner who is not bothered, then the person occupying that land can go to the court and have his occupation validated. He will then be given a title for that piece of land. There is another issue where one occupies a piece of land, but the owner of the land starts claiming that you are occupying his land wrongly. I refer this to a piece of land which is mainly owned by a certain community, and another community just comes in and settles in the same land. They will then start disputing or squabbling about it. If not handled well, it can even lead to bloodshed. I have a piece of land owned by the people of Central Imenti in a place called Kiamurimbi in Meru. It is between Meru and Tharaka but in due course invaders or squatters came from very far up, from Kitui and Tharaka. They have occupied the same land and there have been fights now and then, and people have been killing each other. The said land cannot be said to be an adverse possession because there are those who are disputing while others are on the same land by force. Therefore, there must be a differentiation when it comes to government policies so that it is known who has been occupying what part of the land and with whose consent. If this land has previous ownership, what can be done? Is it a monetary compensation? If not, can these two communities be talked to, as a matter of policy, to live in peace in such a manner? What happens in a situation where squatters just get in and occupy somebody's plot? The Government cannot just come up with a policy of protecting a squatter who will just migrate from nowhere, get in and start occupying somebody’s plot by force. Kenyans like to do things which are outside the law in one way or the other. Genuine squatters must be considered, but there is nobody who comes from heaven. They are all Kenyans and there is no land which comes from heaven. It is owned by somebody 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."
}