Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 1457780,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1457780/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 230,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Abass",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13587,
        "legal_name": "Abass Sheikh Mohamed",
        "slug": "abass-sheikh"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I beg to support the amendments in the Land Bill. Land is an emotive issue and is held with a lot of trust and dedication. Land subdivision should be based on utility. You should not divide land in small bits where there is no value. We need to divide land based on utility. When you go to other countries, there is land for farming and there is land for municipalities and settlements. However, in this country, everyone wants to get land. This land is then subdivided into many small units and the country is becoming a consumer country. Food security in this country is very wanting and, therefore, there is a lot to learn here. There is enough land for all of us, but there is a lot of greed in acquiring land. Land should be used so that in future, we are able to invest in or resell it at a better price. However, many Kenyans are still landless. Since the start of devolution, the range land or community land is now being subdivided. A lot of interest has developed because people have made money in the counties and people are trying to invest money on that land. That land is being fenced and all the graze land now excluded. The animals have been taken to the peripheries and most people are now having problems and constantly conflicting. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, some of these people get money, they become contractors, avoid taxation and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and they then decide to invest in livestock. They buy a chunk of land and fence it and yet, it used to be a common grazing land. We have many squatters in this country and land has been taken by a few individuals, especially in the highlands. There is land that has been leased for the last 999 years and most of the beneficiaries are not there today. Most of them died and those who inherited them are not there, they have grown old. We therefore need to look into matters of land lease, especially the 999 years and 99 years leases. Nine hundred and ninety-nine is unimaginable time for most of us to live. It is time we introduced the land tenure system and the land lease or freeholds, so that other Kenyans can benefit. The other land that remains idle and is owned by the people outside the country should be re-distributed and given back to the people. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, food security in this country is now becoming a problem and most Kenyans are importing food from outside. We are unable to produce sufficient food for ourselves. We want the land owned by individuals who keep it for future sale to be given to the people who have the energy to do farming can get that land to farm. Even the Gen Zs who are unemployed and the Kenyans who went to schools like universities, some of them did two degrees and others have two masters and are not employed, if they got land to till, they would produce food and become self-employed. In most parts of the country, land adjudication offices are very corrupt and there is a lot of confusion there. It is time for this country to digitize all the land ownership and land information, so that people can get access to their land numbers and acreages, so that we avoid stealing of land from the public, especially communities who do not know what The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}