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{
    "id": 946075,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/946075/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 117,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Igembe Central, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kubai Iringo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1574,
        "legal_name": "Cyprian Kubai Iringo",
        "slug": "cyprian-kubai-iringo"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker for giving me an opportunity to contribute to this Petition. I stand to support. In as much as we say that forest land is being encroached on and try to fight that very serious anomaly, we can also see what is happening in the Mau Forest. There is a lot of resistance. All in all, we need to conserve our forest cover. However, there are some exceptional areas with historical perspectives that need to be considered. I find the Petition very viable and reasonable because we have people who have been living next to forests for many years. In some cases, people’s forefathers were the ones who started living there. As time went by, they were allowed to build schools, cultivate crops and clear the bushes within the forests. The issue of Mount Elgon is synonymous to many other communities which border forests. We have an example of Nyambene Forest in Igembe Central of Meru County, where I come from. A big chunk of land at the edge of the forest was given to destitute families at Independence. Those were people whose parents died in the forest fighting for Independence during the Mau Mau Uprising. Most of them were killed and maimed. So, they were compensated by being given pieces of land next to the forest. That part of the forest was hived off and the boundary of the forest was revised. The bottom line of this story is that those were not given title deeds, but they are still living on that particular land. I believe this particular case is similar to that of the people living around Mount Elgon. This is a situation where people found themselves living on a piece of land for 20 to 40 years. People have been dependent on that land for all their needs. They have built schools there. They have even been burying their dead on that land. However, when it comes to ownership, they are told that they have no right over that land because the Government has not facilitated issuance of title deeds. This makes one a squatter for many years. Therefore, this Petition is very valid and it should not just be tailored for people living around Mount Elgon alone but, rather, for people in similar circumstances across the country. People who have been living next to forests for many years should be considered for settlement in those areas. They should be vetted to ensure that imposters do not take advantage of such a window to grab land from forests. As the Government opens such a window, it should be very clear how many such affected families are to be settled on what size of land. Only deserving cases should be settled and issued with title deeds for their pieces of land. In the long run, they can stay there comfortably. They are now worried. They can be challenged or evicted any time and they would not have any recourse. They cannot even go to a court of law to say that they have been evicted from their land because they do not have any legal documents to prove that, that is their land. I support the Petition but, again, let us become very cautious when giving titles to people. We should get the bona fide owners and be very careful not to destroy our forests even more. More so, we need to secure our existing forests. However, the landless people who are living around forests should also be comfortable like other Kenyans. They should be living on pieces of land they believe are their own. With those remarks, I support."
}