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{
    "id": 850970,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/850970/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 301,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13156,
        "legal_name": "Mutula Kilonzo Jnr",
        "slug": "mutula-kilonzo-jnr"
    },
    "content": "The last one is the proposed Section 23, which is also not clear when it says: “Internal displacement of persons resulting from a lawful compulsory acquisition of land subject to prompt payment in full, of just compensation to the persons shall not, for purposes of this Act, constitute arbitrary displacement.” There is something wrong about that sentence. The intention of Article 40 of the Constitution was not to cause displacement of any person. In order to have Article 40, which guarantees the right to land, no person should leave their land until they have been paid in full. The suggestion is that a person should be compensated a year later. In Tharaka-Nithi, for example, you are telling an old woman, “Go away and wait for a year. The Government will pay you. Leave your land and forget your houses.” When did we get to such a situation? If the Government is acquiring land, the first portion and budget should be for the acquisition of land. Let us not blame Kenyans that their land has not been titled since 1963; they have not done testamentary disposition since 1963 and transmission of their titles since 1963. Let the Government get organised. When the Government decides to acquire land in Thwake for purposes of a dam, those people must leave peacefully. When the Government takes over the land, there should be no complaints. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have said here that I have people in Manooni Dam who were moved from their land to create a dam and relocated to a place called Nguu, in Kibwezi. When they got there, they found people waiting for them with bows and arrows. They went back but could not reacquire their land; and they have not been paid since 1984. We cannot go there. I understand that the Government needs to have projects and it is stressed because people are now turning this into a scheme for making money. However, that does not mean that we violate the rights of Kenyans. The people we are talking about are very ordinary Kenyans with an eighth or a quarter of an acre. We are not talking about people who have 100,000 or 200,000 acres. In most cases, those people who have large tracts of land do not have a problem. They are paid quickly and they have valuation. Let us make it possible for county governments to assist Kenyans where land is being acquired to have independent valuers. It is suggested here that valuation will be done between the national Government and the county government. The Committee on Land, Environment and Natural Resources says that it will be extremely bureaucratic. However, let us give value to Kenyans who have been trained as valuers. People have taken their children to school to become valuers. Those people should be given an opportunity to have independent valuation, so that there is a competing valuation. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}