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{
    "id": 974961,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/974961/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 88,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "In Kenya, we have the land question and we still do not have the right answer to it. At the last elections people told us that when it comes to the land question, they have got the solution. Unfortunately, the solutions that we legislated on and captured in our Constitution and in various policies were solutions that were aimed at making happy people who were in the ruling class and are contributing to the land issues in this Republic. If you look at our policy and approach towards land, ask yourself why Kenya was unable to put a pipeline through Northern Kenya, and it was cheaper to put a pipeline to transport oil through Tanzania, that is, for Uganda. It is because of our policies on land. No one was born on this earth with land attached to his neck. Why have we not considered adopting policies - not exactly what Tanzania has but something close - such that the Government does not have to pay billions of shillings to buy land of which it is a trustee? We brought to this House a report on cases where the Government bought its own land. If you look at the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project, much of the money that went to that project went into buying real and fictitious pieces of land. Our land use policy is crooked and that is why my brother, Sen. Olekina, gets himself in trouble when he tries to defend the interests of the Maasai community. At times he is unaware that the horse has bolted. The Maasai of Kiserian or Rongai is not the same Maasai that was there 50 years ago. It is through a proper land use policy that we can assure even indigenous communities that, yes, Kiserian or Rongai could be part of traditional Maasai land - even Nairobi, Nyeri and Laikipia are part of traditional Maasai land – but we should not have a system that encourages people to come up with historical claims that can cause anarchy. That can only be done if we have a proper land use policy. Finally, my challenge is to those who run our counties. The County Government Act requires each county government to develop a spatial plan that will dictate and define how land will be used. Our counties are becoming slums and the people who are contributing to the slum nature of our counties sometimes are the ones who have stolen money from county governments. They are building hotels, shanties and all sorts of structures in the counties with ill begotten money. There has to be some order. The Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural resources must call all the counties and ask them for progress update on their spatial plans. It is not just the plan itself; we need to see action on implementation. Devolution is now eight years old; let counties not tell us that they are still developing their spatial plans. Some have told us in the Committee on Public Accounts and Investment that they do not have spatial plans. Finally, Mr. Speaker, Sir, the NLC was a classical failure, and I hope that the Commissioners who are in NLC will do a better job but let us reflect. To the students who have visited the Senate today, if you have got aspirations of owning 50,000 acres of land, remember the question posed by Leo Tolstoy. He asked: “How much land does a man need?” At the end of the day, it is six feet wide and 6 feet deep. Let these students not be bitten by the bug of hunger and greed for land, but the greed and hunger to be good humanity. 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."
}