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"id": 926096,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kathiani, WDM-K",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Robert Mbui",
"speaker": {
"id": 1750,
"legal_name": "Robert Mbui",
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"content": "We are now talking about 878 acres and what has already been negotiated is 500 plus acres. I am asking myself: What happens after the acquisition of this land yet there is still over 4,000 acres that is required? In this Report, there are individuals - one has been named as Mr. Njoroge - who are already in the process of acquiring land from their neighbours. Obviously, these are persons purchasing land. It is easy for them to purchase land for speculation, then later on, probably, sell it to the military at a premium. These are the kind of things that we need to deal with. How I wish the military would have negotiated for the 5,000 acres from the beginning, so that there are no middle men who will come to interfere with their requirements moving forward. On the budget of Kshs400 million that has been set aside, apparently if you look at it, you will find that the military made a move by setting aside some money. What happened is that that money was eventually used on other modernisation programmes other than the acquisition of land which was critical. That means they will require more money in future to acquire more land. So, the valuation of this land by the NLC has to be fast-tracked. This is one of the recommendations that the Committee should have made. We should fast-track the valuation and negotiation so that we can enter into an agreement and then organise for the payments in future. The third observation that the Committee made was on Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA). Interestingly, according to the Committee, they are saying that it was undertaken and a certificate was issued. However, Mr. David Ongare from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), who is reported in this Report, said that no ESIA was done. So, I am wondering why the military has a certificate, but an officer from NEMA is saying that no proper ESIA was done. I do not know who is telling the truth. I do not know if the military has the capacity to do its own ESIA or whether NEMA is mandated to do that. That is something that needs to come out clearly. In the Report, on the second point, the Committee talks about the initial budget that was set aside of Kshs400 million and a total of Kshs175 million to be utilised to compensate the affected persons and then the balance be reallocated to other modernisation projects at FOB. Is this factual? This Committee’s observation is asking a question. Who is being asked this question? So, as we pass this Report, there is a question before us from the Committee. Who is being asked? Is it us, as parliamentarians, or the Government that should have been asked, so that it gives us the answer? When the Committee asks: Is this factual? Who is supposed to figure out if it is factual or not? So, I am contributing to a Report that I do not have the ability to meet the people that the Committee met. I am here accepting a Report that is asking: Is this information factual? I wish the Committee could have told us if it is or not factual. The Ministry of Defence has so far, according to this Report, not entered into any agreement for the acquisition of the land for the FOB. So, if they have entered into any agreement, what is going on? Why have they not entered into an agreement? What are the reasons? What is stopping them from doing that? I wish the answers to these questions were put before us, so that we can deal with them. It is important that when we talk about this we remember we had issues - as you know land issues are sensitive - where the NLC leadership had to leave office. They ended up in court because of scandals involving land. The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) land and the Ruaraka land had issues. It is important that when we deal with these issues, we deal with them up to the end. The fifth point on the Committee’s observations is that the ownership of the parcels of land neighbouring the 878 parcel of land already identified by the KDF is in dispute. That means that even as we are considering expanding from 878 acres to 5,000 acres, there are already disputes. When are these disputes going to be sorted out and what are the disputes? I wish that The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}