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{
    "id": 627698,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/627698/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 246,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ababu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 108,
        "legal_name": "Ababu Tawfiq Pius Namwamba",
        "slug": "ababu-namwamba"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. One of the reasons that motivated this country to pursue a new constitutional order was land, the desire to ensure that we re-engineer, take a fresh look at the manner in which we manage, administer and utilize land in a manner that is beneficial to the people and, ultimately, to the country. This law, therefore, in so far as it seeks to operationalise Article 63 of the Constitution, is a very important piece of legislation. In fact, it is one of those pieces of legislation that has been eagerly awaited by members of the public and Kenyans out there. This is one of those instances you would have expected this House to have been overflowing with enthusiasm for informed and substantive debate on such a key piece of legislation, that is operationalising such an important part of our Constitution. Without belabouring on too many issues that our colleagues have substantively and ably debated, I want to draw your attention to two issues. First, is Clause 6 of the Bill where responsibility is handed to county governments to hold in trust all unregistered community land on behalf of communities for which it is held. This is pretty much a throwback to the previous arrangement where local authorities held similar responsibilities over land - what we called trust land. Not surprisingly, therefore, among the transitional clauses of this Bill is to get rid of what has traditionally been called the Trust Lands Act. My concern is that we have not taken sufficient time to flush out the responsibilities of county governments in respect of unregistered community land. The Bill says at Clause 6(2) that:- “Any transaction in relation to unregistered community land within the county shall be in accordance with the provisions of this Act and any other applicable law.” My concern is that while the Bill is saying that transactions will be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of this Act, no details have been provided as to how county governments will be expected to deal with that unregistered community land. One would have expected some specificity in terms of what is expected of county governments in terms of the responsibilities of county governments and certain irreducible minimum guarantees to communities while this unregistered land is held in trust by county governments. My concern is even more amplified when you look at that issue in relation to the whole of that Clause 6. The only caveat that is very specific and clear is Clause 6(4), which stops county governments from disposal of that land. That means that any other kind of transactions could be undertaken by county governments to the detriment of communities if specific details are not provided."
}