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{
    "id": 625281,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/625281/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 137,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Lati",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2762,
        "legal_name": "Jonathan Lelelit Lati",
        "slug": "jonathan-lelelit-lati"
    },
    "content": "registered land that belongs to a community is, as I said, a giant leap forward in our Constitution. No matter what you say, the fact that trust lands are now held in trust by county governments--- I hope the governors and everybody else understands that those chunks of lands are only held in trust. Article 63 of the Constitution gives us some life because those governors belong to those communities. I want to talk on the aspect of converting community land into public and private land and vice-versa. I thank the people who brought this Bill. This provision of having 50 per cent of members of a group ranch or more agreeing to convert land either way and two-thirds present is a very good thing that will provide a very strong wall against those grabbers who want to take community land. Hon. Speaker, the issue of compulsory acquisition of community land by the Government for public use worries me. I understand that all governments in the world enjoy the doctrine of eminent domain. This principle ensures that government serves the public good, irrespective of whether land is privately owned or communally owned. However, we must define the extent to which the Government can apply the eminent domain doctrine. The Government can wake up one morning and say that there is geothermal energy in some parts of Samburu County and some oil in parts of Turkana County and decide to apply the principles of that doctrine to take away land from those communities. There are no clear guidelines on how the Government should acquire such land. We agree that the Government can take away such land because that is what happens throughout the world. However, we will bring amendments to provide for clear guidelines on how the eminent domain doctrine should be applied in this country. A good example is found in Samburu West Constituency where I come from. There is a place called Muramu. In the early 1980s, when Maj-Gen. Nkaissery – the current Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Interior and Coordination of National Government – landed in Muramu, the people of Samburu County thought that the Kenya Army went there to only practise range so that they could effectively defend our country. However, someone in the Ministry of Defence thought that the land was vacant. He never consulted anybody in the community. They went ahead to acquire the land. Today, the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) thinks that they own Muramu. As the people from Samburu, we are saying that, that will never happen. Even if you were to consider that the said land does not belong to the Samburu community, advance possession alone would guarantee the community ownership because they have lived there from the time Hon. Nkaissery landed there and, to date, when he is a CS. Those are the kinds of provisions of this Bill that make some of us proud and happy. We can bring such matters to the House and approve them. On the issue of converting community land into private land, it is clear that communities are the ones who will do this through the provision on the percentages of the members present. That is clear and good. What I am yet to understand is the provision for ratification by the assembly. We need to be clear on what “assembly” is. Is it the county assembly, the National Assembly of Kenya or some local assembly of some criminals sitting to take away community land? I would prefer the “assembly” being referred in this Bill to be the National Assembly of Kenya. Those are the few amendments that I will bring. The other thing that this Bill provides for is the usage of community land in a very clear way. For those of us who live in community land, the issue of having communities controlling grazing land is very important. It will make sure that our people are empowered economically. In some areas, lands are over-grazed because people think that land is a common asset for all. So, everybody tries to keep as many livestock as possible. Consequently, we end up having droughts 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."
}