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{
    "id": 513646,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/513646/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 296,
    "type": "other",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "For instance, we have a salt processing company in Magadi which has been there since the colonialists set eyes on it. The community has lost that kind of a resource because somebody grabbed it and allocated himself a lease of as many years as he wanted, and now the communities are not benefitting from it. Fortunately, with the promulgation of the new Constitution, we Kenyans realized that we need to put in our Constitution that natural resources have to be exploited in a sustainable manner and there should be equitable sharing of the benefits accrued among the communities, counties and even the national Government. This Bill is well thought out and timely because it recognizes the fact that the communities on whose land these resources are found actually own those resources and, in case of any exploitation, then they have to benefit from it directly. The sharing has to take into account the local community. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, from the outset, I would like to say that the definition of the local community in the Bill needs to be widened. When the Bill will be at the Third Reading, then an amendment needs to be introduced because it talks of local community meaning a “a people living in a ward within which a natural resource is situated and are affected by the exploitation of that natural resource.” We have cases where pastoral communities own ancestral land communally which covers even more than a constituency. So, that has to be taken into account because we have cases where the communities use their lands for grazing and everybody in that community has equal right and access to that land. So, when a part of that land is exploited for a particular purpose, then all the community members lose or are affected by that as they all cannot access it. In that case, we have to widen that definition. Before the promulgation of the Constitution, what used to happen is that an investor would see a useful resource somewhere, go back to collude with the Government and somebody would get a title deed for a community land as big as he or she wants. They would do all the paper work and get all the licenses. By the time they hit the ground, and the community realised that somebody had encroached their land, they had all the documents. The land was set aside, given to him and he had a lease or title deed. There is nothing the community could do. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it ceases to be a community resource because it is on a private land. The community just loses its shares or benefits just like that through the stroke of a pen by an unscrupulous investor and Government officials. They are then disinherited of their land and they do not get anything out of it. That is why there are some prevailing situations now in this country. For example, the Kinangop Wind Power project is facing a lot of problems. People have even died because the community is resisting the way it is being done. Maybe, they are not adequately benefiting from it and that is why they are reacting to somebody benefitting from their resource while they are not in the picture. Our Committee on Energy was at the Mui Coal Basin last year. The local communities are having a lot of issues. They have to benefit from that mineral that is found in their area. Even the way it is exploited, has to be to their benefit. For example, the communities said that since they have coal in Kitui, the power plant cannot be established in Lamu. They want to benefit fully from it even in terms of labour. 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."
}