James Orengo

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 3871 to 3880 of 4273.

• 15 Apr 2010 in National Assembly: available to the Ministry do not demonstrate a serious undertaking to construct a seven-star or even a five-star hotel. With this state of affairs, it may well be that the land was acquired for speculation. The history of the land while in the hands of the Tourist Paradise Investment Limited showed lack of commitment by that company to pay land rent, interest and penalties and the Government will not allow further speculative transactions on the property. The land is and will remain a prime Government property for which the Government must realize substantial incomes and returns. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, ... view
• 15 Apr 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I just want to clarify. Unfortunately for my learned friend, he believes that Minister for Finance means hon. Kimunya- -- view
• 15 Apr 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, then I understand why the misunderstanding is coming. If he was learned, probably that mistake would not arise. I think the mistake that my friend is making is that he thinks the Minister for Finance means hon. Kimunya. The negotiations started during his time, but the final approval of waiver of penalties and extension came when hon. Michuki was the Acting Minister for Finance. I have that in writing because in this issue, even the Office of the President was involved. Amb. Muthaura was also involved in extension. So, they are all there, if we want ... view
• 15 Apr 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the documents that I have laid on the Table; the exercise of the statutory power itself contains the names of the directors and their pictures. That is available for record purposes. Concerning the question whether I should take this matter to the Cabinet, the only reason why I think it is important for me to take it to the Cabinet is that, the office of the Attorney-General and Treasury have been view
• 15 Apr 2010 in National Assembly: involved and I do not want to make a decision in which the Cabinet as a whole is not involved. I also have, at the back of my mind that this is a very prime property. Nairobi lacks the kind of hotels that you will see coming up in Kampala and Dar-es-Salaam. view
• 15 Apr 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was requested to lay the names on the Table and I have done so. The names are there. I do not want to take a lot of time on this. I need to get some guidance on this issue because as we speak today, as the Minister for Lands, I can tell you that the Government does not have access to a lot of Government land in this City. This is one of the prime properties that are available in which the Government can give guidance as to what kind of structure. In view of ... view
• 15 Apr 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to assure this House that I am not deterred in any fashion or form in cancelling and revoking title deeds that I think were not available for alienation or Government land that had been grabbed. But I must exercise due diligence before I do that. Like yesterday, when Mr. M. Kilonzo and I were giving back the title deeds to the judiciary, I did that only after undertaking due diligence that the area was planned for roads and other Government buildings. As it is, if you look at that memorandum, my focus was ... view
• 15 Apr 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as to what type of development is going to take place on that property, I have not seen any plans and the plans that are in the Ministry are not official and not properly before the Ministry. In any case, I have dismissed them as not demonstrative of a serious undertaking on that particular property. That is what I would wish to say in reaction to the points which have been raised. view
• 15 Apr 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I, for one, have said many times that land is being used as currency; people are turning land into ready cash, and that must be stopped. I want to invite my learned friend, Ms. Karua, to look at the memorandum that I wrote last year in which I came to the conclusion that this particular transaction, long before anybody else asked this Question, was tainted with fraud and that I was not convinced that there was full disclosure. I directed that a restriction be put on the property with a view of cancelling the extension of ... view
• 15 Apr 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, all these things that are being raised, I am on the road there. I am not on the road having been triggered by a Question in this House; I started last year. But I want to understand the problem properly. There are instances where we have sent matters to the KACC and we have not found any resolution. Even the pieces of land whose deeds I am revoking, most of them are with KACC and they are stuck in the courts. So, having heard what the House has said and the mood of the House, please, ... view