Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1404458,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1404458/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 242,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Seme, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon (Dr) James Nyikal",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Bill. I start by supporting this Bill. The Bill seeks to restore the authority of the National Land Commission through the National Land Act of reviewing the grant where there is concern or where they petition that these grants were not granted in line with the law or they were injustices that were involved. Therefore, it seeks to remove the five-year time limit that was previously imposed on the Commission by the Act. Additionally, the amendment to Section 14(9) aims to remove the requirement for the Commission to seek permission from Parliament after the five years have lapsed. The amendment to Section 15(3) seeks to remove the criteria or the conditions that had to be met for these petitions. Lastly, the amendment to Section 15(11) aims to remove the limitation that automatically repealed the entire section after 11 years. To this extent, I support this Bill as it aims to address historical land injustices that have persisted for a long time. However, I am concerned that the removal of the five-year limitation may lead to an overkill. This is because the Commission will have the power to review land grants indefinitely, even after a review has already been conducted. Additionally, another person may come forward many years later and request a review of the same land grant. When the five-year restriction was put in place, subsection (9) gave Parliament the power to allow the Commission to review those grants, even after the five years. Therefore, the expiry of the five years is not a complete loss, as the Commission can still take action if required. In my view, if we pass all three amendments, the review of grants based on historical injustices will continue indefinitely. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it means that the restrictions provided by Section 15(3) will be removed. Therefore, anyone can petition for any land, at any time, without any restrictions. This fails to address the issue we are trying to correct because someone could request a review even after it has been completed. I have discussed this with Hon. Baya, and the best solution is to extend the time limit from five years to 15 years and preserve the authority of Parliament to allow petitions from the Commission. This will provide some protection. 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"
}