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{
"id": 1337396,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1337396/?format=api",
"text_counter": 323,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Ruiru, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Simon King'ara",
"speaker": null,
"content": "the sub-division started, we would not have experienced what we have experienced in Athi River. That notwithstanding, today, the Government and the public are fighting for public land to put up public institutions. I can pick a case in Ruiru, where big chunks of land were sub- divided for private use, and then public land was set aside for public development. But the same land was not locked. After the legitimate land was sold out, those people started selling what they had secured as public land. That is why the Government finds it very hard to put up public institutions. For instance, we now want to put up huduma centres, Technical Training Institutes (TTIs), hospitals and police stations, but there is no land. The Government is going back to buy what it previously owned. What if that land had been locked? The same case applies to roads. The Government has spent a lot of money to buy back land to construct the Eastern Bypass. That land was very wide, but the same Government, through scrupulous people, made it private and issued documents which could allow them to secure the land as theirs. However, when the same Government comes to do development for the public, it is told that the land is not there. What happens? Since those people have enough money to file cases, the Government normally loses. In our villages, poor people cannot even fight for their land because they cannot afford a lawyer to take care of their sentiments. So, they find themselves losing. They are sometimes fined, and that becomes a double loss. How can we cure this? The land is still sub-divided. I want to give a case study that I can justify. As I speak, we have Tatu City, a coffee plantation owning about 15,000 Acres. I assume they are supposed to give us 1,500 acres of public utility land. That is what we will need in the initial documentation. But who is there to follow up on the 1,500 acres in 20 years to come? That is how we are losing our land and why we cannot develop. In Kenya, it is very tedious to secure a title deed or a certificate to lease land. What happens is this: If the land was secured and a document was not issued, when we come with development on the same land, especially where we have Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSRs) coming in to assist us in putting up projects, those people will ask for a legit document. When the document is not produced, people go to court to challenge the ownership of that land. So, you lose development because the donor might not wait forever for you to secure the document. However, if the documents were secured at the initial stage and were waiting for the development to come, we would have many developments. I also want to give another case of Ruiru Girls in my place, Ruiru Constituency. The land was nine acres, but it is less than six acres as I stand here. The same school got donations from the Japanese Government, which I can quote. We were asked to give legit documents so that they could do construction. We did not have any records because it was public land. The title deed was not issued. The land is just there, and the school secured it so that it is not grabbed. But if somebody went to court, since we do not have any documents, we could just be removed from the land like what happened in Athi River. It is the same case with Ruiru Boys, where I schooled. That land was divided into four portions. We were only able to secure the land, but we will not be there forever. Hon. Temporary Speaker, public land should have a legitimate document so that we can secure it. This will give tidiness to matters of public land. This is because you will find that the land starts getting owners whenever development comes. We have idle land in our country with huge chunks in Kilifi, Lamu and several other places, but if you try to come up with a Government development, you will see the real owners of that land. The Government's development ends up stalling. That is what is happening in Kenya and maybe in other parts of the world. I looked at what was happening in other jurisdictions while coming up with this amendment. I found out that many countries, including African countries, have come up with methods of securing public land by issuing documents and accommodating any development 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."
}