Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 721406,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/721406/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 34,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ogolla",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1264,
        "legal_name": "Gideon Ochanda Ogolla",
        "slug": "gideon-ochanda-ogolla"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Speaker for this chance. I want to bring two issues. One pertains to a Petition that we had handled before in the year 2015, which you read out to the House. It was pertaining to a request for a recommendation by Petitioners or communities living around the riparian area of River Yala. They were requesting if the Committee could recommend that the inhabitants of the ancestral lands that were held in trust earlier on, be re-allocated to them and the individual land tenure system arrangements be brought out for the individuals. They were also praying that the Committee recommends that the investing entities in Yala Swamp area, including the current Dominion Farms, be ascertained in terms of the exact lease acreages and land sizes and a determination of the extent of the boundaries to those kind of lands. Hon. Speaker, you referred this matter to the Departmental Committee on Lands and I believe they have been working on it. It is only that, up to now, we do not have any clear direction. So, at the outset, I am requesting that you allow the Departmental Committee on Lands to update us on what is happening around this matter. Yesterday, one of the directors or the owners of the Dominion Farms brought in a very elaborate statement to the public alleging a number of things. Based on that, I request a second thing. Could the House clearly protect Members? The media release yesterday from one of the directors was insinuating bad things about some of the Members of this House, including myself. I am not doing a personal statement but, based on the facts that came out in that media statement, it is clear that the directors are doubting and indicating that the Petitioners were fake and that, they were working at the behest of somebody else who is purported to be me. To that extent, they have insinuated a number of things, some of which border on defamation of my character. Hon. Speaker, I ask if the House can provide a clear indication and direction in terms of the protection of Members, particularly Members who represent areas where petitioners come from, and if at all there could be instructions to subject petitions to scrutiny so that they do not cause this House into disrepute. What I am talking about was in yesterday’s media. That fellow brought in a lot of allegations indicating that he is not going to appear before the Departmental Committee on 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."
}