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{
    "id": 563047,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/563047/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 53,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mwiru",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 107,
        "legal_name": "Alex Muthengi Mburi Mwiru",
        "slug": "alex-mwiru"
    },
    "content": "First of all, may I begin by thanking your good office and that of the Clerk for enabling this Committee to carry out its mandate, especially on land issues in Taita Taveta where they are very emotive. I also want to thank the Members of the Committee for having found time to carry out this particular duty besides their other schedules. The Departmental Committee on Lands is anchored in our Standing Order No.216, Second Schedule, section (K). It consists of 29 Members. This is not a minority Report; we were unanimous on the particular matters that were undertaken. The Committee was seized of the matter through a complaint that was raised by some residents of Taita Taveta in Taveta Settlement Scheme. The complaint came through this House to the Committee on Lands, and we were supposed to undertake some investigations and get to know how that settlement scheme was planned, surveyed and allocated to the residents of that area. The Committee undertook a journey to the place to acquaint itself with the ground and the complaints that were being raised. We had a public baraza where officials of the County Government of Taita Taveta and the national Government were available to give us some insights into the same. Since time is limited, I will go straight to what the Committee saw on the ground regarding the complaints that had already been made. Taveta Settlement Scheme has two phases, namely, Phase I consisting of about 5,000 acres and Phase II consisting of about 8,000 acres. Phase I is a section of Hon. Criticos land that he had already put under some loan with some bank. He was unable to pay the bank and the loan was accruing some interest. At that particular time, Mr. Criticos, the owner of that farm, had started selling some plots to some people to get some money to repay the loan. Therefore, some residents of Taita Taveta had already started buying some pieces of the land. However, there were some differences between that particular person and the people who had bought land and it was not possible for the buyers to process their titles. The Government had to come in and pay off the particular loan to the bank and resettle the people who were already on the ground. Therefore, Phase I can only be described as a squatter settlement scheme. Phase I, which is about 5,000 acres, has 2,337 plots. These plots consist of public utilities and The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}