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{
    "id": 237003,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/237003/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 284,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Omondi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 220,
        "legal_name": "William Opondo Omondi",
        "slug": "william-omondi"
    },
    "content": "There is land. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to contribute to this very worthy Motion. I wish to 3312 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 1, 2006 thank the Mover for bringing it to this House. Following the chronology of events that was given by the Mover of this Motion, it is very clear that the people who came to the coast hived off huge chunks of land for themselves. They created some laws which enabled them to do so. Even people who occupied the former White Highlands in the Rift Valley used the same laws enacted at that time. The present regime is no exception to this trend. If we can go by what happened in the two previous regimes, they were using land for political expediency. One hon. Member said that the statutes are the ones that should be amended to streamline the land issues in our country. The Land Act vests all the powers in the presidency and, as such, the President can use those powers that he has at his disposal to give out land for political expediency. They give this land to their political supporters to sell and enable them to stay in power. The laws of this land must be examined very thoroughly. Some politicians have made some statements to the effect that: \"Such-and-such an area belongs to us!\" You will hear some people say that Nairobi belongs to them. This means that the Luos in Kisumu will also say that Kisumu belongs to them. This is a recipe for chaos in our country. So, these statements that come from some very useless leaders in the country must be controlled because this is a clear way of creating chaos in the land issue. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also have a situation in Kasarani and Nairobi as a whole where we have urban squatters. These are the people who live in areas that are popularly known as city or township slums. These people have no homes. They only have the makeshift structures that they live in. Around Nairobi, we have large chunks of land that are owned by some foreigners that were not acquired properly. Some of them were ill-gotten and they are idle. We do not need money to buy this land. All we need to do is to create some legislation that will enable the Government, as the partner in ownership of land, to acquire these pieces of land and give them to the people who need them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also have Government land around Nairobi. These pieces of land, while putting them to use, we cannot fail to see the plight of the urban squatters who are known as slum dwellers. In Kasarani, we have over 1,000 acres of land that belongs to the Government. This land is threatened by the stadia complex in its entirety. This is an issue that Kasarani people cannot take lightly because this is all that they have that can help them in their livelihood. So, when the Government is in the process of using such land that is situated in urban areas---"
}