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{
    "id": 505339,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/505339/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 208,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. G.G. Kariuki",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 330,
        "legal_name": "Godfrey Gitahi Kariuki",
        "slug": "gg-kariuki"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I was here from the beginning when this Bill was being moved by the Senate Majority Leader. It created a lot of questions and points of order because of what it is. Since the Speaker had decided on the way forward, we all agreed. The Speaker should not be challenged for making that decision. However, we should look at this Bill clause by clause, because this is a Bill affecting county governments. It has a lot to do with county governments. Whatever we are proposing here ought to have come from the county governments so that we know and regulate according to the wishes of the locals, assuming that the local leadership would have introduced the Bill to the public for their comments because the issue of land, whether adjudication, is a very weighty matter. This is where you can find counties, national Government and also the Senate disagreeing because it is an issue of natural resources belonging to a particular county. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, sometimes we need to change our policy in terms of thinking that we can just forget where we come from and assume that we know better that other people. My feeling, as somebody who has been in politics for quite some time, is that we fail by not involving the public. Was there any problem for the Committee dealing with this matter to go round and ask or propose to the people what they are intending to do? The people would have talked to you. For example, if you want an urban council to have 250,000 people, they will agree or disagree with you. However, to assume that because we have the authority, we can just move on and do what we want is quite unfortunate. You now want to go back to introduce District Commissioners (DCs) in land adjudication. Is the history of those administrators dealing with the adjudication matters good? Some have history you would not even wish to be reminded about. This is where corruption started many years back; that if you have money, your land can be adjudicated and some parts of other people’s land would be taken away. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we cannot be here as witnesses of making law which we know will create more problems. I agree with Sen. Murkomen when he was asking whether this Bill was properly drafted. However, looking at it, it is said it went through the Office of the Attorney-General. However, I think we need to know that the Attorney- General’s office is a legal office. He is a Government legal advisor but not a Government political advisor. Therefore, we should not take it for granted that just because the Bill went through the Attorney-General’s office, it is an appropriate Bill which will solve our problems. These are things that we always need to be careful about. Although the terms changed from trust land to community land, the meaning is almost the same. It became trust land because the land was being trusted to the British to supervise and manage for the locals. Now, we can manage ourselves without necessarily looking for help from anybody from outside. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}