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{
    "id": 523027,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/523027/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 209,
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    "content": "boundary should be. We are living in one country where organizations and bodies that are supposed to have clear records as to boundaries have different records. How do we resolve this? We want to commend the drafters of this Constitution because they saw this problem. The third problem is that whilst we set up the county boundaries under the 1992 Act in the case of Konza/Makueni/Machakos, the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development came up with at least five legal notices that are not recognized by law. The boundaries have been altered so many times that, in fact, it is shocking that people are not quarrelling, because there is no confirmed document that can tell you that the boundary is at “x” point. I ask Senators to support this Motion. Under Article 96(3), we must take leadership to protect our counties. If we do not do so, and counties start quarrelling, like they are as suggested in the newspaper reports, our work as the Senate will not make any sense. For example, let me read here. It says:- “Nyamira and Kisii counties are entangle in a dispute over the Mwambusi Scheme which hosts the business institutions worth millions of shillings. Taita- Taveta and Kwale counties are laying claim to Mackinnon Road Township. Elgeyo-Marakwet and Uasin Gishu counties are battling over Chirchir Trading Centre.” The list continues. Kitutu Masaba constituency in Nyamira County is also having disputes. Recently, you saw the one of Kapedo, where there is a dispute about the location and even a water resource. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there is no better time, five years after the promulgation of this Constitution, to set up the framework in a properly drafted legal document, so that we can have a situation like we have now in the boundaries in Konza. If you are looking for a certain piece of land in any part of the country, just click the GPS map on your phone and you will get that specific parcel of land on your phone. That is what we ought to do to our counties. This technology is available at the University of Nairobi. This is the only way that we will stop the disputes that we are having. In fact, in the revenue sharing formula, one of the parameters is land size, which we have given eight per cent. Now, if we do not know where our boundaries are, then we might end up in the situation between Bungoma and Busia which happened in the last financial year, where we discovered that there was an anomaly in the revenue sharing formula because of the population density. The answer lies in setting up of this commission once and for all. I would suggest that as the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights drafts this legislation, which will be a game changer for this country. This will be one of those commissions that is not political. We must have our professionals. In the Survey of Kenya, we have a large institute; professionals in terms of lawyers who understand the legal framework so that we can comb all those maps that we have from 1963. For example, the map of the boundary between Taita-Taveta and Makueni counties should be in digitalized form, so that as we resolve the disputes between these counties, we can walk step by step into the history of these disputes. 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."
}