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"id": 234367,
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. The word \"squatter\" is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as someone who is sitting on somebody's land illegally. In Kenya today, we have squatters in the rural and urban areas and yet land is the singlemost important resource in Kenya. Indeed, the Independence of Kenya was won on the basis of landlessness. Today, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am unhappy to report to this House that we are far much more landless than we were when Mau Mau activism was at its peak. When the colonial Government was here, the number of people who did not have land was far much less than what we see today. That is to say that one needs not to project to see that a scenario similar to what happened during the Mau Mau days is coming and the word \"tsunami\" is becoming more and more relevant in today's Kenya. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the young people today are hopeless. Mungiki, an expression that we have many young people who are landless and do not own property, is back. While the original intention of Mungiki was to seek and secure land, a few politicians have misguided the group members and made them violent. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir,I wish to support this Motion and the issues raised by hon. Wamwere and hon. Khamasi. Unless we resolve the issue of land, beginning with the problem of land ownership--- Here in Nairobi, if you buy a plot, say, in Nairobi West, the Nairobi City Council will give you a certain time limit to develop that plot. However, in the rural areas of Kenya, we have people who have owned fertile land and kept it idle for the past 30 years. How much is the country losing in terms of cash crops and value of land? We all know that the value of land is not in the acreage, but in the land use. This country cannot develop unless we use the little land that we have. I, therefore, propose that those who have fertile land that is lying idle must surrender that land to the Government. The unfortunate bit is that the history of the rich in Kenyan is associated with the people who worked in the previous Governments. They are the ones who own large tracts of land. The history of rich Kenyans is the history of the people who rule this country today. If the Ndung'u Report was to be laid on the Table of this House, it would clearly show that the who-is-who in the Kenya Government today are the people who grabbed the largest tracts of land. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I, therefore, aver that despite the good intentions of hon. Wamwere, issuance of land to squatters will not happen when this particular Government is in power. I urge him to join us in the next Government so that we can resolve this problem of squatters which, I vow, cannot be resolved by the current Government because it consists of persons who own large tracts of land in this country, including Mr. G.G. Kariuki and Mr. November 15, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3677 Wamwere who was given land by the former President, hon. Moi and has even refused to surrender it."
}