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{
    "id": 1412240,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1412240/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 224,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I also rise to support this Bill by the Deputy Leader of the Majority Party, the very good Member for Kilifi North Constituency, and my very good friend. This Bill, as the Leader of the Minority Party has said, is quite progressive. I agree with him that in the first instance, particular provisions in the law as it were, were indeed unconstitutional. You cannot limit what is expressly provided for in the Constitution through a statute. That is what Parliament had done. I believe in hindsight now because the Leader of the Minority Party and myself were in that House of the 11th Parliament. That was erroneous. It is said that it is only fools who do not change their minds. Since we are not fools, as a House, we ought to change our minds and align the statutes to the Constitution. There are many land issues in this country, and not just historical land injustices. I know there are those who are in fear that this provision may give the National Land Commission an opportunity to look into private land matters and all that. But what is of greater importance to me is the disposition of public land. Hon. Temporary Speaker, it is good that you are sitting as the Temporary Speaker today because you were the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Lands in this House in the last Parliament. You therefore know the number of land parcels around the country that have been taken up by the cartels. Those cartels are now taking advantage of the absence of this provision in the law to take up public land and subdivide it and corruptly process titles through the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development. They are now taking up land that is otherwise public land. There are many instances across the country, including in my own constituency where cartels have taken a chunk of over 100 acres of land that formerly belonged to the Kenya Forest Service. They have subdivided it and over the years, they have been trying to sell that land to innocent third party buyers. You can imagine the tragedy that befalls people when they buy land that has a title, having searched and found it to be clean only to learn later that the people who sold to them were illegitimate owners. It is only an independent commission that can fix some of these issues. This is the rot that has bedevilled the Ministry of Lands over the years. This is not something that can be fixed by the Ministry itself; they need a third eye which is the National Land Commission (NLC). The drafters of our 2010 Constitution had every reason not to trust the Ministry alone. They created another independent arm, NLC to oversee what is being done in matters public land. I restrict myself to the issue of public land because that is where the rubber meets the road on matters theft of land. When Sections 14 and 15 of NLC became redundant or lapsed within the five years after the commencement of the Act, NLC was left as an impotent body. Today, they would see Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah grabbing public land but because I am in a position of influence, I will get my way through the Ministry of Lands, process titles, subdivide it, dispose of it, and NLC would absolutely do nothing. This is what we want to correct. I commend the Member for Kilifi for having this Bill done. I had a similar Amendment Bill last year which I had done as a Private Members Bill. The Ministry of Lands prevailed upon me to drop that particular amendment and they would incorporate it into a bigger Lands Amendment Bill that they were processing. I was shocked when the bigger Lands Amendment Bill came as these particular provisions were not provided for. And that is why I support Hon Owen Baya today as he has replicated exactly what I had done in my Amendment Bill that the Ministry of Lands prevailed me to drop in pretext that it was going to bring it together with the bigger Bill which is before the House. Without pre- empting debate, it is listed as Order 13. Order 13, Sections 14 and 15 of the National Lands Commission Act were left out. I am obligated because it was originally my Bill. I support the Bill sponsored by my deputy because it captures the spirit of what the country wants. 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"
}