HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 137453,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/137453/?format=api",
"text_counter": 505,
"type": "other",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, there is some history about this. Lord Dalemare and others were given long-term leases as they tried to encourage white settlers to come to Kenya. If you compare this with what is happening in other countries, you will find that Kenya is one of the few countries where in order to attract white settlers â because most white settlers went to Canada, Australia or South Africa â the colonial Government either gave them long-term leases, for example, 999 years or freehold titles. In some cases, we have leaseholds for 10,000 years. There is no Government anywhere, and we have been looking for comparable situations in other countries, where a Government gives out land for more than 99 years. At the back of your mind, you should always remember that the land that is being given out by the Government for settlement is either Government Land or one which the Government has bought in order to settle squatters. However, if it is trust land to which the community has a right, we normally issue freehold titles after adjudication. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the problem we have in places like Coast Province or Rift Valley Province, is that we issue somebody a freehold title. That person is settled on the basis that he or she is poor and landless. In most cases, you will find that as soon as that person gets a title, within a week or year, he or she will either sell that land or lease it out in circumstances we have no control of. So, that squatter who was settled will move to another scheme after selling the land that he or she had been given. He or she will declare that he is still poor and landless and, therefore, entitled to be settled. What we are trying to do is that if somebody declares himself to be poor and landless, we will issue him or her with a title which will have conditions. The squatter is barred from selling the land for ten years, for example. We have not agreed on how long that condition should run. We are trying to control the squatters who then become âprofessional squattersâ. I hope you will understand where we have come from. However, the Government will not in instances where land is either trust or private land, issue anybody other than a freehold title or absolute proprietorship. In this Motion, Mr. Kaino, deals with land in settlement schemes. He has not talked about farmers generally, but land in settlement schemes. Land in settlement schemes is Government land. You cannot get a better title than the Government has. You cannot give somebody your car and transfer it to that person at the same time. You either give it and transfer it absolutely or you have a residual ownership by keeping the title in your name. I am saying that we are finding ourselves in a situation where the Government is becoming landless. This is because everywhere, including urban areas, everybody wants land to be converted into freehold. I can assure you that in relation to urban land, for example, in Nairobi and Mombasa, we will not allow people to convert leaseholds into freeholds. This is because we have had instances where the Government needs land, for example, to do infrastructure. We spend a lot of money, for example, to buy land to build roads. The sections from Pangani to Thika was basically Government land, but we gave them out as freehold. The Government is now spending billions of shillings to buy back that land. If we had given those pieces of land on leasehold, it would have been easier for the Government to get them back, because we would have some interest on them. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I would like to remind Mr. Kaino that most of the land between Pangani up to Thika was agricultural land and not urban land. However, we have found ourselves in a situation where we have issued somebody a"
}