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{
    "id": 1494192,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1494192/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 629,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sotik, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Francis Sigei",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. This is a very important Bill. At the outset, I want to state that I have chaired many land control boards. Land control boards have played a vital role in stabilising land management in this country. I am very happy that we are now validating and modernising this Land Control Bill. Land control boards have existed for a long time, and they have done a wonderful job. I want to speak on two things. First, the members of land control boards, whom I have worked with in many areas, are people of integrity. They are reliable people who understand what happens in the villages. Going forward, we will digitise land records. I have heard the Chairman saying that we must digitise that information. One of the problems we have had in this country is the issue of title deeds. Hon. Temporary Speaker, you remember that, at one time, a Minister said in this House that a title deed is just a piece of paper. Title deeds became useless. What we are now doing is to make sure that the title deeds in this country are made to be legal and valuable so that any investor who wants to come can know that they are investing in something that will last for a long time. There are problems with public utilities in this country. Land that is allocated to schools, sports and playing grounds have been taken, not through the land control boards, but by people who go to the Ministry of Lands to manufacture title deeds and get them through fraud. I hope this Bill will cure that problem. Another issue I want to mention is the power to investigate. This is a milestone. If those boards can be given some legal backing and particularly have powers to investigate and recommend prosecution, it will go a long way in making sure that land title deeds in this country are of value. Another thing I want to mention is the kind of allowances those older men and women who sit in the boards are paid. They are paid peanuts. If we can enhance the allowances of those honourable people who sit in the land control boards, it will avert the issue of corruption and make it respected. We also want to inject professionals who will support those land control boards in technical issues. I am sure those land control boards in the country will play a significant role. On the issue of land cases in court, I hope this Bill, after discussions, will assist in making them move faster. This has been a mining area for lawyers, who have made much money at the expense of the poor people. If you look at the cases in the rural areas, those local people cannot even afford to pay the legal fees, I hope this Bill will address this issue so that our people can be saved from that problem. I support this Bill because it will go a long way in making work easier, making the issue of land ownership very easy to access and, even more importantly, solve the issue of succession which has been a problem. If you look at the land cases in our place and even in Kisii, Kericho and Sotik, the people are being killed because of them. We would like to make those cases easier to handle at the land control board level so that the people can save their lives. I support the Bill. Thank you."
}