Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 93691,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/93691/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 240,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kosgey",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Industrialization",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 177,
        "legal_name": "Henry Kiprono Kosgey",
        "slug": "henry-kosgey"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. I beg to second this Vote of the Ministry of Lands. On the outset, I would like to commend the Minister for the way he has steered the Ministry, particularly during very trying moments when everybody is talking about land and land being such an emotive issue. The passage of the National Land Policy is, indeed, a landmark in the management of land in this country. All of us know that land is a very important asset in terms of the development of this country and also as a means of production. We cannot do anything without land. We need it for food and animal production or even for industrial development where I am in charge. We are fortunate in this country to have sufficient land. We have Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASALs). We now know that everybody cannot have land, we should also move and have a policy on land demarcation. I am happy to hear the Minister say that they are moving in to demarcate the North Eastern Province which will make land available for development both in agriculture and industrial development. There is no land that can be classified as unproductive, higher or low potential. I just came from Namibia, where they have Namib Desert. This is the oldest desert in the world. It occupies a large part of that country. However, that country produces beef and exports it to Europe better than us. So, even what you may call ASALs, can be utilized. This country is fortunate that we have rains. Even though it may rain for a few months, we need to harvest that water and utilize it for agricultural purposes, industrial and animal production. We know that we cannot provide land to each and every Kenyan. It is about time that we made Kenyans move their minds out of land. They should know that you can earn a living through other means and not necessarily from land. I want to touch on what the Minister has touched on, namely, the acquisition of land. In this country, we have a very serious shortage of industrial land. We have no land to put up industries. Whenever we have investors coming in and wishing to set up industries, whether within Nairobi or in our major urban centres, we face a very serious challenge of providing land for industrial development. If the land is available, it is too expensive for an industrialist to invest in. It is about time that we, as a Government, made a deliberate effort to acquire land for industrial development. Our neighbouring countries in the East African Community give land for free to investors as an incentive. Here in Kenya, investors find it very difficult to buy land as they have to spend money which they would have spent on buying equipment on purchasing land. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister referred to acquisition of land for settlement. I have in mind the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who are still in camps. I notice that the Minister had requested for Kshs8 billion to buy land, but only Kshs1.5 billion has been provided. This is a drop in the ocean."
}