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{
"id": 189427,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/189427/?format=api",
"text_counter": 168,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Orengo",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Lands",
"speaker": {
"id": 129,
"legal_name": "Aggrey James Orengo",
"slug": "james-orengo"
},
"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to second this Motion. First of all, I wish to commend the Minister for the work he has done since taking office. This is one of the newly created Ministries and I must say that initially I was a bit of a non-believer, because I thought this is one of those Ministries we just create when it is necessary to expand the Cabinet for whatever reason. However, since then, I have found out that this is an idea that should have come many years ago. I think the Minister must be commended for the work he has done. I have personally been able to participate in some of the workshops and events he has organised in order to create awareness and popularise the vision for the new metropolitan we want to create in the regions around the City of Nairobi. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, many times we find ourselves in situations where we can perform our duties when there is the necessary capacity and legal framework. Here we have a Ministry and a Minister who almost has to create something out of nothing. I think Mr. M. Kilonzo and his team at the end of this year will probably need additional commendation for the work they have done. I think it was done within 30 days of the establishment of this Ministry. We were at the School of Monetary Studies trying to learn more about the importance of this undertaking. Why is the creation of this metropolitan area very important? Already there is pressure on the arable land that we have in this country. Hardly 16 per cent of the total land mass of this country can be classified as either agricultural or arable land. We, therefore, must seek alternatives. That alternative has come in the form of trying to create an economic zone in the greater metropolitan area as spelt out by my learned friend Mr. M. Kilonzo. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the metropolis are actually the lifeline of some countries that have benefitted from an idea like this. For example, Johannesburg, Gauteng Province accounts for nearly 40 to 50 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of South Africa. We know the same about Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Singapore probably is more or less a city state but Kuala Lumpur is doing very well by putting in place some of the ideas that are now being placed before us so ably by the Minister and some are in progress. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, one of the things that I have agreed that we have got to do together with this Ministry is that in order to plan we need land. In order to make this metropolis a city that is going to be what it should be, we are going to make sure that the land area and land phase is used without enabling speculators and other people to grab the land in Nairobi and in the surrounding areas. One of the things that I must point out to hon. Members which has happened in the past and I think it is noted the world over in growing economies, is that, land grabbing is a form of primitive accumulation of capital. When you want to accumulate capital and you have not been able to look or work for it, the only way to accumulate that capital is by land grabbing. At the end of day, you may find that a lot of structures that have been built in this country and elsewhere have depended on this primitive form of capital accumulation. But if it goes on uncontrolled, then we are never going to achieve the things that we anticipate to achieve, for example, the vision for the Nairobi metropolitan area. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, just imagine that nearly 200 years ago, Napoleon was able to make the City of Paris what it is today. He was planning that city not for automobiles or large trucks. The biggest trucks he could have were horses and horse carriages and they were still able to plan that city to be what it is today. The Romans were building roads realising that communication was very important and traces of those Roman structures, be it roads or aqueducts are there. So, one of the things on my part in contribution to what this Ministry is going to do, is to deal squarely with this mania for land grabbing. We are going to make sure that land is available 1894 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 16, 2008 for the work that this Ministry is going to do. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you know at times we do crazy things. People are allocated Government land, they pay Kshs9 million or Kshs10 million and they end up selling it back to the Government at Kshs500,000 million or Kshs100 million. I have seen cases like that. I want to assure this House that we are going to put measures in place to ensure that those who are allocated public land are not going to be able to sell those pieces of land. You will only get that land when you can show us that you have got something to do with it. You are not going to be given that land in order to subdivide it. You apply for 50 acres and the first thing that you want to do is to subdivide it because you cannot find one buyer for 50 hectares and so you subdivide it into 100 pieces and then you sell it. What we are going to do, is that if somebody has a good project and he has money, resources or good plans, then we are going to make that land available directly instead of going through speculators. That is what is happening in Dubai and even in big cities like Seoul. The difficulties that my friend is going to find is that a speculator may want to sell a piece of land for let us say Kshs2 billion. Now, in order to put up a structure which is going to enable you recover that Kshs2 billion, it must be something outside this world. In order to make sure that the investors are able to put in their investments, for example, Mr. M. Kilonzo has promised us that we are going to have an airport city around Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and I think that is a pretty good idea, now I am putting land grabbers on notice that if you have a piece of land around that JKIA, you are not going to keep it. I am going to hand it over to Mr. M. Kilonzo to do better work with it."
}