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{
    "id": 499822,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/499822/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 83,
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    "speaker_name": "",
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    "content": "I share the concern of the two Senators regarding the disappointment and frustration of tea farmers in the country especially because of the low bonus payments across the country. I am aware that tea factories in Kisii, especially, pay farmers are a very low rates; I think the lowest in the Republic, at Kshs8 per kilogramme. Even in my own region; which is supposed to be doing very well, we are only receiving half of the bonus that we were paid last year. The Imenti Tea Factory which is top in the country receives Kshs26 per kilogramme down from Kshs42 per kilogramme last year. It is as a result of these frustrations and numerous complaints and petitions that we came before this House as a Committee and requested for your authority to convene a national tea conference in which we invited all tea stakeholders; the KTDA, the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and his team, tea brokers, representatives of tea farmers, Senators, Governors and Members of the National Assembly. We came up with a very comprehensive analysis of all the issues facing the tea industry. My Committee is in the process of compiling the report which we will bring to this House for deliberation and chatting the way forward on the tea industry. One of the very key issues we are pursuing as a Committee is the announcement by the Cabinet Secretary to the effect that the Government is considering a mechanism of stabilising the prices of tea especially in cases of market collapse like what we have now. I will be calling upon the Senators to help us firm up the proposals and reduce them into policy and legal reforms that will benefit tea farmers and restructure the industry in a manner that does not include cartels and other intrusions that have conflicts of interest which are detrimental for farmers. So, we are asking Senators to bear with us. We will bring the report to this House in the next two weeks."
}