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"id": 812178,
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, this state of affairs in our country, where government agencies issue approvals to developers and later back track on the same, is not only an unfair practice, but an economic crime. The inconsistency has left many Kenyans confused on where to acquire and invest in land and property; and whether, indeed, the approvals obtained during the verification and approval process will stand the test of time. Mr. Speaker, Sir, you may recall that on 21st February, 2018, I requested a statement from the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources regarding the use and management of riparian areas in Kenya. In my statement, I sought to bring to the attention of the Chairperson and Members of the Committee that over the years, riparian land in Kenya has been put under pressure due to residential developments, cottages, farm buildings, golf courses, commercial buildings, roads, sand and gravel harvesting, agricultural and industrial related activities. I sought to know what measures the Government would take to ensure harmonization of laws relating to riparian zone protection, which are contained in several pieces of legislation, thereby presenting a problem of the overlapping mandates and lack of coordination in their enforcement. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Chairperson issued a response to the Statement and upon further comments and questions by Senators, you directed the Chairperson to provide further information by way of response to the issues that had been raised. My worry is that since you suspended the requests and processing of Statements under Standing Order 45(2)(b), the matter has not been pursued further by the Committee. As I had mentioned earlier, we are beginning to have the causalities as a result of the confusion in the enforcement of laws on riparian land, which include forgery, land grabbing and corruption. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, Sir, I call upon the Senate to take note of this matter. I further call upon the Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources to carry out investigations on the matter of use of riparian lands with a view to ensuring harmonization and uniform application of the law. This is because there are many developments on riparian lands, especially in Nairobi, Machakos and Kajiado counties. Some of these developments have approvals from the relevant government agencies while others do not. The tragedy, however, is that the right arm does not seem to know what the left arm is doing. Even those that have obtained approvals for development find themselves on the wrong side, depending on which government agency is dealing with the matter. I thank you."
}