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{
    "id": 625243,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/625243/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 99,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mwiru",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 107,
        "legal_name": "Alex Muthengi Mburi Mwiru",
        "slug": "alex-mwiru"
    },
    "content": "going to sort out in the Third Reading is to have involved the CS for Land only as the national Government. The Committee has ensured that the county and the community must be included in the management of this land. Why do I say so? We cannot just let the community and county government do it alone. There are community lands that crisscross counties. If it is a matter of clan, in some areas like North Eastern and Upper Eastern, we have found clans crossing the boundaries of the counties that they live in. Therefore, the national Government has to come in and control that aspect so that there is cohesion. Secondly, if we allow it to go the county way alone, the likelihood would be that every county would run away with its community. It can decide and say: “Nobody else should enter that area.” So, we have to bring cohesiveness in this country. All in all, the Bill is proposing that the community must have the highest management structures in trying to manage community. Now, what happens if a Mutharaka like me is living somewhere in Wajir, and the community goes to declare that particular land their land? So, we have put in mechanisms to ensure that that particular person is also protected regardless of him or her not belonging to that clan. At least he or she has been there and has been recognised as having been there. So, this Bill is going to deal with that. It is also important to note that there are only three categories of land in this country. There is private land, public land and community land. The Bill is providing mechanisms and an environment to make sure that the community does not only deal as a community but can also be converted to public land or private land. That mechanism is already there and there should not be any fear that you cannot afford to get a slot somewhere in community land, if you have to go and negotiate with that community for certain development because the assembly of that community is going to make decisions. We have also ensured that decisions of the community in terms of the management of land are done by a majority of members of that community. There must be a good threshold so that few individuals do not make decisions and deprive the community of their rights of ownership of land in that community. Therefore, although the Bill put it at the threshold of 50 per cent we, as a Committee, have put it at a better threshold of almost 70 per cent because a serious decision has to be made by that community. The fear here which the community saw is that some of this land traverses areas with low education levels. In the process, a few learned individuals will caucus and deny the ignorant people the rights to own land. The threshold has to be higher. Resources within a community land must be negotiated with the community that owns that land to ensure that no one deprives the community of its land just because there is some oil on that land. In the case of Turkana County, God has blessed them with that natural resource. The community should be involved in the negotiations, so that that resource is well exploited. Involvement of the people will also ensure that they are not deprived of their rights simply because they were ignorant of the existence of those resources underground their land. Those are some of the things that we need to look into. Hon. Speaker, I said that I would not take much time since my duty is just to help Members understand what the various parts of this Bill provide. It is not just a matter of dealing with it clause by clause but rather to explain what the content in the Bill means. This will ensure that as we debate the Bill, we understand how to navigate through it for the benefit of this country. This Bill will save Kenyans from the kind of clashes that happened in 2007/2008. 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."
}