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"id": 188510,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/188510/?format=api",
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"speaker_name": "Dr. Eseli",
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"speaker": {
"id": 141,
"legal_name": "David Eseli Simiyu",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me a chance to contribute to this debate. I call it a debate because I think that is just what it is - it is not going to add any value. As a House, we did not participate in deciding how this Budget should be crafted. This has been presented to us and we have to accept it as it is. Given a chance, I would have said that Ministry of Lands should get much more money than they have been given. What they have July 23, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2067 been given here is really chicken feed for the problems that they have to go through to sort out our problems in this country. Given a chance, I would have asked for a lot more money for the Ministry of Lands not because I like the Minister and other officers working there, but simply because, indeed, this Ministry needs more money. The new districts that have been created all over the country need physical planners. A lot of physical planning needs to be put in place. Right now, some members of the Provincial Administration, who happen to be running those districts, are literally deciding which building should be built where without seeking the advice of physical planners. Very soon, we are going to have districts in this country that look horrible because no physical planning went into it and yet we have not given the Ministry money to do proper physical planning. Physical planning is not just about district headquarters. These physical planners can help us to plan our hospitals, schools and so on. Land is becoming scarce and we have to use it prudently yet we are not investing money in physical planning. I think we are giving the Minister a very hard time to try and spend around this little chicken feed that we have given him to see how far it can go. With regard to settlement, I do not see any money here for that purpose. Only this morning, we passed a Motion concerning Cherangany Hills, that we should have those people residing there resettled elsewhere so that the hills are conserved as one of the water catchment areas in this country. We have heard the debate on the Mau Forest. We expect these people to be resettled. Who is going to settle them and with what? We have not given them the money to do so. There are people who are willing to sell land in the wider Trans Nzoia District for resettlement. There are also people who own huge tracts of land in the Mau Forest itself where we could, maybe, acquire that land and resettle these people. We are not just going to throw them out of the water catchment areas without resettling them. We have to resettle them and yet we have not given the Ministry of Lands money to do that. I think we are probably demanding too much of the Ministry when we do not give them the money and expect them to perform. I am glad that, at least, the people in the Ministry realised that land disputes are poorly handled by the DCs, DOs and land tribunals. They have seen the need to train these people at the Kenya School of Law. I commend them for that. Access to land for the poor is a very difficult problem. They have no access to land. They depend on people up there to look at them mercifully and, maybe, allocate them some land. But even if you were to look at them mercifully, let our mercy be useful. Why give people half-an-acre in Solio Ranch? What the hell are they going to do with half an acre? To the individuals, we have not helped them economically and to the nation, we have damaged our economy. Half-an-acre is not going to help anybody in the rural areas. We should either allocate them a decent amount of land that is economically viable or do not allocate it at all. That is one thing which the Minister felt was a good achievement. I am, however, sorry to say that it was not a good achievement. Half an acre allocation to over 3,000 people has just helped create a rural slum! That is exactly what we have done, that is, created a rural slum! What will over 3,000 people on half an acre do with that land in Solio Ranch? That is not the way to go. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am glad that the Minister realises that land fragmentation is dangerous in agriculturally productive areas. Indeed, it is good there is that realisation because when you fragment land in agricultural areas to the extent that it is not agriculturally viable, we are playing with fire as far as food security in this country is concerned. Indeed, if I recall, sometimes ago, there was a Minister for Lands who tried to come up with a lower limit as to how much could be owned in agriculturally productive areas. His views were shot down. I am glad that the current Minister has looked at the matter again. I would, however, like to remind him that his cohorts are some of the people who shot down the idea of putting a lower limit as to what land can be held in highly productive agricultural 2068 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 23, 2008 areas. I hope the Minister will have the political will to actually push this through because it is a very sensitive issue. It is, however, necessary for this country to avoid that sort of land fragmentation that impacts negatively on our food security. The other thing is the establishment of land registries. Here, I will go closer to my home, that is, Bungoma North District. In the wider Bungoma and, indeed, Western Province, this is one of the places with a settlement scheme. The rate of land transfers and land survey is very high. I am surprised it is not among the ones where a land registry should be set up. I think that ought to have been a priority area in the whole of western Kenya. Finally, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, and I hope this does not imply that a lot of people are asleep; it is surprising, from this Printed Estimates, that Bungoma North District is now in the Rift Valley Province and Bondo is in Western Province. I hope such kind of mistakes are never repeated in the Ministry of Lands because they mean a lot. If you just change one decimal on a hectare of land, it means a lot. If somebody comes in with a title deed and you want to consolidate that land and it is in acres, then you put it together in hectares, several acres will be lost by simply moving a number. So, I hope those mistakes are not going to be habitual because we cannot transfer old districts to new provinces and vice versa . Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir."
}