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"content": "Ordinance which is currently Cap.281, which is the Registration of Titles Act. We have the Government Lands Act, the Registration of Lands Act (RLA). We need to consolidate, first of all, as a matter of urgency, all the laws scattered in different statutes touching on land in Kenya. Once we are able to do this, we should also, as the Mover of this Motion has proposed and as amended, be able to now also have a uniform land title policy. Apart from consolidating our laws and having a comprehensive land law that is not scattered in all other statutes, we should also have a uniform land title policy where there is uniformity but most important, as we progress to enhance agricultural output, we would not only be a matter of consolidating the laws and the uniformity but regulating land use in itself. We know that high potential areas like Trans Nzoia and other parts in the breadbasket of Kenya, production has gone down considerably because of the poor land use. We are also aware of the iniquities that exist in this nation since Independence. We recently had a Motion in this House where we urged the Government to set up a special fund for settlement of squatters. It was surprising how many people came up with ideas on land ownership. One speaker indicated that out of Kenya having eight provinces, three provinces are owned by less than five families. We have people owning vast acres of land that lie idle, are unutilized and that are not used in food production to boost national food security. The time has come when this Government through this reformist Minister, should be able to deal with these issues; that we can have so many Kenyans squeezed in what they call points; less than an acre of land. They are unable to cultivate or produce anything, yet there are thousands of acres that lie fallow; that, only we have snakes and rabbits and are not utilized for food production. The time has come when this land policy must be put in place and these iniquities are addressed as a matter of urgency. But apart from uniform land policy title, the processing of these titles â I come from Trans Nzoia District which has a problem of lacking titles. Year in, year out, we have been talking about this issue. I am grateful that the Minister has visited Trans Nzoia District. We urge that he comes back again, so that we can ensure that Kenyans are able to get titles for their land; they are able to access credit facilities through the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) and the ADC. We have banks like Equity that has done very well in supporting farmers through the âKilimo Biasharaâ programme where farmers are able to use their title deeds to access finance and develop their land. This is one way of poverty eradication in this nation. Yesterday, we urged the Government to allocate more resources towards this Ministry so that apart from implementation and we know that after the land policy has been put in place, the problem will now be implementation. This is a programme that we must all support and ensure that proper policies are put in place. Lastly, we have talked about settlement schemes in this country for many years. I raised the issues of squatters last year. We were told that the Government has put in place arrangements and has been settling squatters all this year but we have lacked clear criteria that determine identification of genuine squatters, identification of suitable land for settlement of these squatters and that ultimately determine the regions. Why should we have squatters settled in Solio Ranch from Aberdares and Mt. Kenya using Kshs1.3 billion that was allocated in 2006/2007 Budget and none is allocated for the squatters in Trans Nzoia or perhaps the squatters in Kibwezi? We remember Mr. Ndile with his squatters in Kibwezi who has fought for so long and up to now as we speak, they remain landless and they are refugees in their own motherland. We also have a similar situation"
}