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{
    "id": 1278209,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1278209/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 229,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Seme, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) James Nyikal",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I rise to support this very important Motion. Humans are terrestrial beings. We live on land and nowhere else. You find that a few people own very large tracts of land. Many times, that land is unutilised. Those large unutilised tracts of land and the presence of people who have no land to live on leads to the emergence of squatters. They have to live somewhere. Because squatters do not own those lands, that leads to the development of slums, particularly in rural areas. We keep saying that squatters do not legally own that land, their residency is illegal, and therefore, no development can take place. That disadvantages them in every way possible. At times, their houses are demolished. Their children come home and find places that they have lived in and have known as home for many years being demolished. They end up with nowhere to go. This Motion to regularise possession is important and I support it. However, there are many practical issues that we have to address. One is the current legal statutes relating to land and our slow judicial process. Like other civil cases, land cases take long to be resolved such that generations pass while cases are still in court. That is an issue that we have to look at. There is also the issue of the Government’s commitment to resolve land issues because of vested interests. The Member who spoke before me said that we need a commission to look into land issues, yet we all know that the Ndung'u Land Commission Report looked at all issues of land possession, squatters, illegal and suspect acquisitions, and got a way forward. That Report has never been discussed. Perhaps if it had been, that would have solved some of these problems. We also know that the lack of commitment by the Government has led to a situation where there are doubts about the land acquisition process and the integrity of title deeds. Buyers follow legal processes laid down in Government procedures, but at the end, their possession of land is questioned, and there are even efforts to evict them from pieces of land for which they have title deeds. Therefore, this Motion is timely. A policy should be developed to cater for private land, absentee landlords, community land, and adjudicated land. Adjudicated land and public land should not have a problem because people who live there as squatters are Kenyans and, therefore, should be supported. The principle of adverse possession of land may be helpful, but if we have to consider it, this Motion should be progressed to an Act of Parliament that looks into all land issues, existing land statutes, and processes, so that those regulations can be practised."
}