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{
    "id": 616804,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/616804/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 121,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Iringo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1574,
        "legal_name": "Cyprian Kubai Iringo",
        "slug": "cyprian-kubai-iringo"
    },
    "content": "which surveys and allocates people land. However, the sane offices go out of their way to demarcate swamps, riparian areas and river beds. Once people are allocated such pieces of land, in the absence of a law prohibiting them from destroying that ecosystem, they will go ahead and cultivate the land, saying: “This is my farm and I can do anything with it”. However with this law in place, I strongly believe that even if you are near a river bed, or next to a forest, or even in your own farm; there will be limitations on usage of such land to ensure that you do not destroy the environment. There will be limitations as to how much forest cover should be in that locality. In Europe, nobody can interfere with areas which have been declared forests. Even if such area is part of your ancestral land, you cannot interfere with it. However, in Kenya, if one has forest land of even 10 acres and decides to clear the forest cover overnight; nobody will follow up the matter. That is what is destroying our forests. We have the charcoal burning business, which has destroyed so much forest cover. Very many trees have been felled in the name of looking for fuel. We should have an alternative source of fuel for our people, especially for those in the low income earning category and those who cannot afford gas. There should be a way of getting charcoal sustainably instead of letting people go berserk, get into forests and clear them. I know that the Board will have many problems as they will have to work in tandem with the National Lands Commission. They have to work with the county governments. Even the local people should know exactly where the boundaries of certain forests are. Because of misdeeds by some lands officers who might have left the public service through retirement and other ways, there will be conflicts between citizens, who complain that their land is being taken away by the Government. The Board and the National Lands Commission will have to clarify where the boundaries are. There should be a legal framework for the removal of such people from gazetted forest areas. All along, these people believe that this is their land. However, you cannot remove people from such land, throw them out and leave them landless. There should be an alternative settlement for them. Going back to the issue of historical injustices, people were given land by certain regimes but the demarcation was done illegally. That is not a misdeed of such individual or family; it is a misdeed of the individuals who were in authority and served the Government of that time. These are matters which must be harmonised so that people can be resettled elsewhere when the Government eventually reclaims forest land. If there are areas where we need to plant trees, the law we are enacting should encourage that every person should plant trees. We now have El-Nino, which has brought a lot of rain. We need to plant as many trees as possible on our own land as well as in riparian areas. In this country, we have the problem of certain exotic trees planted near river beds and swamps sucking the water and leaving the rivers and swamps dry. Through this Bill, we need to encourage people to plant indigenous trees which attract rainfall and hold water in the soils for longer periods, so that we do not make our river beds dry. The Board should come up with a framework to regulate cultivation near river beds or swamps. There should be reasonable distance between rivers where people cultivate so that we do not interfere with riverine ecosystems. Anybody breaking such provisions should be punished so that people can refrain from cultivating up to the river bed, which causes many rivers to dry up. In every community in this country, including the communities in Igembe Central, which is my home place, there were rivers. When I was young, there were very many rivers and streams flowing all over with a lot of water but today they are dry river beds. Once there is no rain, there 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."
}