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{
    "id": 1546256,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1546256/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 25,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Matuga, ANC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kassim Tandaza",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for this opportunity to add my voice to this sad situation. It is sad that 60 years after Independence, there are indigenous people who are said to be landless or squatters. They are residing in areas of their ancestors. We are not talking about 100 or 200 years ago. For as far as history can write itself, they have been living there. By the mere fact that somebody can corrupt Government officials, those in power have the right to evict people from their rightful homes and lands. I do not know for how long this will continue. This situation is not just in Kilifi; it is also in Kwale, Lamu and along the Coast. Fortunately, God gave us fertile land and favourable weather and we have beaches. I do not know at what point somebody decided that the indigenous coastal people do not deserve the beach lands, simply because, for as long as we can remember, they have not been in the Government per se. This has always been perpetrated by Government officials. It is so sad. We have had such petitions before. I brought some petitions on the Golini Settlement Scheme, Tiwi and Waa. I am questioning the powers of this Parliament when it comes to handling petitions, especially on land matters. On the last Petition that I brought, the Committee went to the extent of asking the then Cabinet Secretary for Lands to nullify the title deed so that a proper survey could be done and the people given their parcels of land. Up to now, nothing has happened. When you go to the Cabinet Secretary, you can hardly see her. The petitions are there. Nothing happens at the Committee on Implementation. As I support this Petition, I am really worried about the next steps that will be taken to salvage the situation and have the locals on their land. It is high time we handle these matters differently from our perspective. Mindful and law-abiding people have been taken for granted. It is high time, especially for leaders from the Coast, to sit down and see how we can handle this matter on our own with the resources and the strength we have. We have been taken for a ride for a very long time. I support this Petition, but I am really worried about how it is going to be solved given the previous petitions touching on land matters from the Coast. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity."
}