Lack of access to ownership of productive assets, in particular to land is one of the ver…

Motion text

THAT, aware that lack of access to ownership of productive assets, in particular to land is one of the very serious sources of economic and social insecurity for Kenyans; further aware that many communities particularly, in rural areas and informal settlements in the urban areas depend on land for their production and livelihood and therefore landlessness affects the ability to secure basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter; concerned that for the urban low income dwellers, the only way of accessing land to put up their dwellings has been to take up residence on land that is unfit for human habitation; aware that the Bill of Rights in Chapter Four of the Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to adequate housing and reasonable standards of sanitation; noting that there are very many squatters who have settled on land that belongs to either absentee landlords, un-adjudicated land, public land or community land for long periods of times, with some disputed while others are undisputed; concerned that the issue of land settlement in many urban areas particularly in the informal settlements has remained unresolved, with numerous persons remaining squatters; further aware that section 7 of the Limitation of Actions Act, 2010 provides for the right to claim for settlement on certain land after the prescribed period; recognizing the need for the Ministry of Lands to hasten the process of identifying parcels of land occupied by squatters where there are no disputes from any party(s); this House resolves that the Government develops and implements a policy for voluntary regularization of land occupied by squatters for a prescribed period, including negotiations for financial settlements across the country to address the challenges facing the said squatters.