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{
    "id": 584616,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/584616/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 235,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "September 24th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES 40 Sen. (Dr.) Zani",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker Sir, it is really quite a sad debate and an emotive one. I am happy Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. has brought it because we have discussed in many forums and even my brother Sen. Madzayo ended his contribution, by thanking Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. It is important maybe to make an amendment and put a deadline to when that Bill should be done. If we leave it open-ended, we will find ourselves exactly where we are. The fact that, this Bill is not in place, I guess there is a problem somewhere. That problem is interference of the National Land Commission (NLC). That Commission has not operated independently. We saw that interference when title deeds were given out in the Coast region where I come from, and we talked about it. Why do you not look at all parcels of land and deal with them comprehensively, instead of dealing with it piecemeal? Giving land titles without checking whether that land had previous titles, it is not fair to use Indeed. There are some people who got those title deeds and when they tried to borrow loans from banks, they were not able to. That is why the Constitution of Kenya 2010 gave birth to put NLC. Otherwise there would not have been need for that Commission if it is not able to perform. There are many commissions which were established to operate independently. I feel sorry for my brother Swazuri because I know him from the University of Nairobi. He is a don and has dealt with land issues for a very long time, and he is very professional. It would be interesting to know what has happened within the time he has been in office. He has never been given the support to operate effectively. It is not good especially for the people from the Coast, in a case where one of us has been put into such a position and they cannot deliver. This is because somebody will say: “We have given it to one of your own, where you have serious land issues, and nothing has happened.” That is why it is very important to push and try to give teeth to this the National Land Commission (NLC), so that it does what it is meant to do. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if we observed Article 60(1)(a) of the Constitution which advocates for equitable access to land, we, the people from the former Coast Province, could not be further from the truth. The issue of land in the former Coast Province has been there for over 50 years. All we have been doing about it is talking and talking. There has not been any action, as the Coast remains one of the most impoverished areas in this country. A lot of that impoverished state comes from lack of land, because it is on land that you can put labour, plant some crops and then sell the produce to make a profit and built hotels. As a Committee, we have been going to the Coast and seeing what is happening there. When you inquire who the land and hotel owners are, you will find that it is not the indigenous people of the Coast. People are fond of saying that people from the Coast are lazy but that is not true. We do not want to hear such clichés being used against our people. People have to understand what the situation has been in the Coast and try to come up with comprehensive ways of ensuring that the situation changes once and for all. With the downward trend in the tourism sector, people there cannot even survive because tourism used to support very many people, apart from those who were working in the hotels. People who worked in the hotels supported their families at home by taking them to schools and, for example, buying tomatoes and cassava which is grown in Kwale. They could do very well. They also supported the fishermen. A fisherman knew where to 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."
}