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"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/223462/?format=api",
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Kaindi",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Agriculture",
"speaker": {
"id": 267,
"legal_name": "Peter Kyalo Kaindi",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this important Motion. On the outset, this Motion presupposes that all Government institutions will abide by the policy to acquire title deeds. In the same breath, it also directs that all institutions of the Government and of public nature be allowed to access their title deeds, and monies accrued be waived subsequently. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, one of the reasons why public institutions have no title deeds is the very process that the Government has put in place; the question of survey. Survey for Government institutions is cumbersome, tedious and, indeed, it is ridiculous. It is easier for surveyors to survey private land because there is money to be derived from those services, but when it comes to survey for public institutions, the process takes a very long time. This problem is compounded further by the Government directive under the Physical Planning Act, which says that, 1040 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES May 2, 2007 if you subdivide your land, you must surrender pieces of land for public utilities for schools, hospitals, churches, mosques and other such facilities. Yet the same Government, after you surrender the said pieces of land, it goes back and reallocates the same land to individuals for private use. It is high time the Minister for Lands put the record straight; that, land being surrendered for public good be maintained for such purposes. In fact, there was a time when I almost told the Minister for Lands, and I recommended to him: Why do you not draw a long list and gazette all public utilities if the process of acquisition by title deeds is taking so long? Because those public utilities are still at the mercy of private people who want to grab the land. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, under the current land law, all land is vested to the Government. Indeed, it is said that the Government has eminent powers, or what we call \"Powers of eminent domain\" over all land in this country. Any land that you must own is either through a lease or a title deed by the Government for a particular time. Therefore, the Government has police powers over your land. If this is so, what is so difficult in ensuring that public utility lands, which are for the future generations, are not only maintained, but also preserved? We look at the fees, be it rates or rent, that is paid for these institutions; is it very necessary? When the white men came here, so that they could authenticate ownership of huge tracts of land that they took, they paid something called \"paper conveyance\", which was a pittance and, really, a big joke, towards the ownership of those big parcels of land. It was five cents per acre, et cetera, et cetera . That conferred ownership to them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, even from the outset, due consideration was not made to ensure that public utilities were preserved. The Government has issued directives over and over again. But some Government officials have contradicted and flouted the rules governing ownership of public utilities. It is the height of hypocrisy to say on one hand: \"Surrender this land\", and on the other, take the same piece of land! The Minister for Lands must be categorical and implement the Ndung'u Report. That report has spelt out public utilities that must be preserved for public good. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, today, the Ministry of Lands officials have continued to ignore the recommendations of the Ndung'u Report. They have continued to sub-divide public land. I say that with bitterness because 800 acres of land that was set aside for a university in Athi River has been grabbed by Government officials. I am requesting the Minister for Lands to revoke that allocation. That is because with the influx of students at the University of Nairobi (UoN), Kenyatta University (KU) and the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), we do not have any other land set aside for the expansion of our universities. We have 800 acres of land set aside in Athi River for that purpose. I am requesting the Minister for Lands to repossess that land and cancel the title deeds. That way, we will have an opportunity to put up another university where students who want to pursue parallel degrees would do so with ease. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is mushrooming of many public utilities in Athi River for education purposes. That is because of proximity. If we lose the 800 acres, we will be doing a lot of de-service to this country. I hope the Minister for Lands will take cue, revoke that allocation and confer that land for the purpose that it was meant for - to put up a university within the precincts of Nairobi. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is important to address the question of land comprehensively, so that we can determine what we need. There are parameters set aside. As a country, how much land do we need for public institutions? How much land do we need for schools? How much land do we need for a city like Nairobi? Is it not time for this Government to acquire more land, if we do not have sufficient land? The size of land being set aside for construction of schools is between one to two acres. The minimum requirement under the Physical Planning Act is five to ten acres. Today, schools are being put up in one acre because of lack of land. The land that was set aside for those utilities has already been taken. The Minister needs to May 2, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1041 take tally of the land that is available in Nairobi, municipalities, urban centre and so on, and determine whether that land, compared to the population, is sufficient to accommodate the needs for that population. If not, he should be bold enough, set aside funds to acquire sufficient land that is commensurate to the needs of the people of those areas. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, like the rest of my colleagues, let me say that we must put in place a mechanism to waive fees. It is a burden and a problem to schools and parents. We hope the Minister will take charge. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}