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"id": 236994,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kamama",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Lands",
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"id": 165,
"legal_name": "Asman Abongutum Kamama",
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"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to state from the outset that the Ministry supports this Motion in totality. In fact, the Ministry is ahead of hon. Khamisi because as we speak now, we have a task force which was commissioned by the Ministry to undertake this work in Coast Province, with specific reference to the Ten-Mile Coastal Strip. 3308 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 1, 2006 I want to say that the issue of squatters and the land question in Coast Province is a very sensitive issue. The hon. Member for Bahari will agree with me that this Ministry has been very supportive of the people of Coast Province, under the leadership of His Excellency the President. We all recall that during his Madaraka Day Speech, the President instructed this Ministry to fast- track the issuance of title deeds and address the land question by December this year. I think we have done substantial work in this area. I want to report to this House that so far we have given out over 60,000 title deeds to the people of Coast Province. I recall that the Members from that region were smiling all the way. Hon. Madoka and hon. Khamisi are here, and they were very happy. That is to say that this Government is very serious in addressing this matter. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me now go to the nitty gritty of this issue. An hon. Member pointed out that in previous regimes, there were Ministers from Coast Province who had been given the portfolio of the Ministry of Lands and they did absolutely nothing to address this matter. I think this is very shameful. They did nothing for over 40 years since Independence. But for the four years it has been in power, this Government has shown that it is really committed to assisting the people of Coast Province. This is a lesson to all hon. Members that if you are given a responsibility, do not pass the buck; address the matter so that history can absolve you. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Government is committed to addressing the land question in this country, and not only in Coast Province. First of all, in addition to the task force that was given specific terms of reference, we have come up with a comprehensive land policy that was discussed between the Ministry and Members last week at Safari Park Hotel. I must, however, point out that we were not impressed with the attendance of hon. Members. So, I would expect that when this Sessional Paper comes to Parliament, every Member will participate so that we fine-tune it and come up with the most comprehensive land policy ever produced in independent Kenya. This land policy has been approved by Cabinet and in the next two weeks, we are going to have a national symposium that will involve all the stakeholders in this country. Thereafter, the Sessional Paper will be brought before the House for adoption. So, we are serious in addressing this issue. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to point out that the land question in Coast Province is a very peculiar problem with serious legal and historical injustices. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you will all learn that the land tenure system, especially within the Ten-mile Coastal Strip, created problems for the indigenous people. In 1939, the indigenous people and other people residing in the Ten-mile Coastal Strip were actually ordered by the then colonial government to lodge claims. The people of Arab extraction lodged their claims but we all know that the majority of the Mijikenda, Taitas and Pokomos were illiterate or semi-literate and so they were not able to do this. So, that is what created the current scenario and we want to say, as a Ministry, that we are committed to solve this problem. Once the report of the task force comes to the Ministry, we will organise to buy some land from these absentee landlords because we have to change Section 25 of the Constitution on land ownership. So, we will buy this land from them and repossess where it is possible but we will have to operate within and be in concurrence with the law. We will buy this land and allocate it to the many squatters in that region. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the amount of money required is colossal. For this programme to succeed in Coast Province and the entire country, we need over Kshs1 billion. In this year's Budget, we were given about Kshs400 million which is not enough. So, we will strive to do that after we have received a comprehensive report from our officers on the ground. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to point out a few issues that were mentioned by a few hon. Members like the one hon. Mghanga raised; that we should go the Zimbabwe way. I want to point out that we will follow the law without wavering. The issue of people invading private land is absolutely illegal and will not be accepted. So, the squatters should be able to wait November 1, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3309 for the Government to take action. We have promised that we will establish and know the amount of land that is owned by the absentee landlords, the number of squatters and the amount of land that belongs to the Government that should be allocated to squatters and we will assist these people because this Government is very responsive to the people's plight. It is a Government that has mercy and we will do everything with a human face. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to say that in next year's Budget, we will give our proposals for increase of the amount of money that we want to use for settling squatters. I call upon hon. Members to support us in this cause so that we can have enough money to settle our people. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to conclude by saying that the Ministry supports this Motion. It will implement it but we will have to operate within the beacons of the law. We will not break the law. We will have to operate like a Government that came to power through a constitutional process. So, the onus lies with the hon. Members from Coast Province to address this matter and I want to say that in the next two weeks, this task force will come with its report and we will act on it. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speakr, Sir, meanwhile, I want to say that people in Coast Province should not be incited to cause chaos. We do not want a repeat of Kaya Bombo, because we know the problems we went through. We do not want to continue seeing chaos like we have been seeing in some parts of this country. We want to do things in the smoothest way possible, so that Kenyans and the world can see that this is a Government that operates within the legal framework. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support the Motion, and I give a commitment that we will assist the people of Coast Province and others in the whole country."
}