HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, POST, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"count": 1608389,
"next": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=api&page=144544",
"previous": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=api&page=144542",
"results": [
{
"id": 1463622,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463622/?format=api",
"text_counter": 535,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "North Imenti, Independent",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Rahim Dawood",
"speaker": null,
"content": "farming in early 1922 when Kibos Sugar Company and Miwani Sugar companies were established by the Government. Thereafter, the Government established Chemelil Sugar Company in 1968, Mumias Sugar Company in 1973, South Nyanza Sugar Company in 1979, Muhoroni Sugar Company in 1966, Nzoia Sugar Company in 1978, Kibos Sugar Company in 2007, Trans Mara Sugar Company in 2011, Sukari Industries Limited in 2012, and others which have since come on board. The issue is not the factories which are there. It is about the farmers because they can produce sugarcane. Currently, the average is 74 tonnes per hectare but in some places, you can get up to 200 tonnes per hectare. The cost per acre for producing sugarcane is between Ksh210,000 to Ksh280,000 with profits of about Ksh70,000 to Ksh130,000. The Mover of the Motion and my colleagues have said it takes about a year or more to harvest the sugarcane. If the farmers expect Ksh70,000 or Ksh100,000 after a year of hard work, what are they left with all year round? If that money does not come in, where do they stand? They become destitutes. We need to put in place better measures on how farmers will be paid. Last year, Hon. Emmanuel Wangwe brought the Sugar Development Bill which Hon. Oundo has talked about. It was very progressive, but it has still not been put into place. Once it is implemented, I hope our sugarcane farmers will get what they deserve. We need to do away with the sugar barons who affect us. They do not want our sugarcane farmers to grow or the factories to work. When I was a member of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, I remember bailing out Mumias Sugar Company twice or thrice with Ksh500 million to pay off the farmers. Unfortunately, that money was not given to the farmers. This makes people to lose faith. The other day, I was reading in the press that the farmers are complaining because the price of sugarcane has gone down. Once this happens, how do you expect the farmers to re-plant the sugarcane? The same thing happened to us in the mountain region where we had coffee. Our coffee was black gold in the 1970s and 1980s. Then, the prices went down and our farmers lost. We have never recovered the coffee boom of the 1970s and 1980s. There is somebody somewhere who is messing up. If it is due to devolved agriculture, we need to put the governors on the block, so that we know what they are doing about sugarcane farming and all the other agricultural products. If we do not take hold of it, we will become a country that is dependent on sugarcane imports and yet, we can produce sugarcane. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development should limit the sugarcane that we import and have quotas so that we can produce our sugar. At the end of the day, we will kill our sugar industry which is not only in western Kenya, but also in South Nyanza and Coast. I encourage our mountain farmers to also look at ways to grow sugarcane. If one day the western and Nyanza regions refuse to give us sugar, I do not know where we will source it from. I acknowledge what Hon. Nabulindo has done, but he needs to go further. Policy and funding are not enough. We need to see how we will encourage and give the right funds to our farmers. This not only applies to sugar, but also tea, coffee, pyrethrum, cotton, and other crops. Agriculture is the backbone of this country and our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We need to work our way out. With those few remarks, I support Hon. Nabulindo’s Motion. However, we need to go further and pay not only our sugarcane farmers, but also all our farmers. Day-in, day-out, we hear of waivers in the sugarcane industry. We also need them in the tea and coffee industries. One region gets waivers while others do not get them. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1463623,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463623/?format=api",
"text_counter": 536,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Peter Kaluma",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 1565,
"legal_name": "George Peter Opondo Kaluma",
"slug": "george-peter-opondo-kaluma"
},
"content": " Next is the Member for Eldas, Hon. Adan Keynan."
},
{
"id": 1463624,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463624/?format=api",
"text_counter": 537,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
"speaker": {
"id": 41,
"legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
"slug": "adan-keynan"
},
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. The paradox in our country is that we have reached a stage where leaders who are entrusted with the leadership of this country, have reduced their role to just lamentations. I have looked at this Motion, which is good for a member of parliament who is seeking to be a populist. However, practically speaking, this is not the route. I appreciate what Hon. Nabulindo has done but, the era of bringing Motions along just to lament on the Floor of the House is gone. It does not add any value. What the sugarcane farmers require is the passage of the Sugar Bill. Over the years, we have reduced our role as Members of Parliament simply because we fear confronting the cartels. The problem afflicting the sugarcane farmers, just like the other productive sectors, are the cartels. They are not interested in expanding our GDP or economic growth. They are not interested in reducing our trade deficit or foreign exchange results. They are only interested in filling their pockets. Whose role is it to diminish their roles? It is the role of the leadership here through legislations and putting pressure on those who are tasked with the executive mandate. I do not foresee a time when we will not need sugar and Kenya will not be part of the global village. We must reflect on this. This country was once a promising nation in the 1960s when we got our Independence. We are at the mercy of cartels today. We have been reduced to an importing nation. We have seen many Members of Parliament bringing Motions here to lament about their sectors. I always give an example of Kenya Meat Commission (KMC). Once upon a time, it was a giant meat processing facility in the entire East African region. However, it is a shell today. The very institutions that we have invested in Botswana and other countries are the ones that are now leading in beef export. KMC is struggling. Year-in, year-out, we are asked to allocate funds to bring it up. The same applies to sugarcane. The other day, I saw a news print that the external debts of millers were waived. I thought that would have given us a new platform to bring up some of those millers. We need to ask ourselves one question. How come the private millers are doing well, but the Government millers do not function? It is simply because of the cartels who do not want that sector to flourish. To my colleagues from the Western and Nyanza regions, it is time we put our foot down and say we can no longer lament. We will give you all the support because where I come from, sugar is a necessity. In my community, we say it is better you die when you are taking a sweet thing than.... Sugar is so critical in our lifestyle. What is our role? How can we minimise the role of those cartels? They will be there. Most of the rich people in this country, including politicians, have made their money through sugar deals. In fact, one of the most lucrative certificates to land on is the duty-free sugar importation facility. You know about it since they are in your villages, Nairobi and all over. Therefore, Hon. Nabulindo, friends, cohorts and colleagues, I empathise with those poor farmers. We are only giving them lip services. What they require is not lip service but practical solutions that are tailor-made to uplift them from abject poverty, which is not a mean achievement. Kenya has been a member of Common Market of East and Southern Africa (COMESA) over the years. I have had the privilege of visiting Zambia, which hosts the headquarters of COMESA. When you go to Egypt and Brazil, you will be surprised to learn that the current security challenges in Sudan notwithstanding, was a leading exporter of sugar. If you go to our neighbour Uganda and do further investigations, you will find out that some things are done in such a way The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1463625,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463625/?format=api",
"text_counter": 538,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
"speaker": {
"id": 41,
"legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
"slug": "adan-keynan"
},
"content": "that countries that have promising sugar farmers do not reach the level of reducing their sugar imports."
},
{
"id": 1463626,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463626/?format=api",
"text_counter": 539,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
"speaker": {
"id": 41,
"legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
"slug": "adan-keynan"
},
"content": "Hon. Temporary Speaker, therefore, we should not ask for somebody from western Kenya to be the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development. Since Independence, there have been many senior individuals from western region who have been cabinet secretaries for Agriculture and Livestock Development. It has, however, not added any value but individual gain."
},
{
"id": 1463627,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463627/?format=api",
"text_counter": 540,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
"speaker": {
"id": 41,
"legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
"slug": "adan-keynan"
},
"content": "My contribution on this particular sector is for us to find a solution. First of all, let us pass that Bill. I know there is a bit of jurisdiction conflict between the Senate and the National Assembly. However, when an issue touches on the lives of Kenyans, politics should be put aside. We do not have any jurisdiction conflict with the Senate. Our work is to legislate. If anything, we should be complementing each other. We need to pass the Bill as a matter of urgency. If there are administrative issues between the two Houses, it should be sorted out as a matter of urgency. Once that Bill is passed, as I am sure His Excellency the President will assent to it. We need to go back to the drawing board and ask ourselves how we can bring back the folded giant sugar milling institutions like Mumias Sugar Company. Once that is done, the role of the sugar-preneurs will have been reduced."
},
{
"id": 1463628,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463628/?format=api",
"text_counter": 541,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
"speaker": {
"id": 41,
"legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
"slug": "adan-keynan"
},
"content": "Hon. Temporary Speaker, you are a lawyer, and you know that we have over-legislated over the years. We do not even need some of these legislations. We only need a proper policy pronouncement at the level of the Cabinet Secretary and those who are in charge of that particular sector. Once that is done, we will save our farmers. I am a camel herder. The only source of export for my camels is either through Djibouti, Ethiopia or Somalia. What has happened to the camel market here is simply because particular cartels do not want it to flourish just like they killed Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) and Mumias Sugar Company. They do not want any sector to grow and that is their business. However, that is not our business as the elected people of Kenya. Our business is to represent our people in every aspect. We have failed miserably as Members of Parliament. It is high time we interrogate issues instead of just being used as a conveyor belt. We pass many things, but what is the end result? This country was once a promising nation that was almost at the age of joining the league of developing nations. Today, we have introduced a struggling nation. The only news that comes out of this country is bad. Is that in our interest during our time as the leaders who have been entrusted with the leadership of this country pursuant to Article 1 of the Constitution? It is high time Members of Parliament went back to the drawing board. Every sector in this country is on the path to failure. Whose responsibility is it? It is our responsibility because to be an elected Member of Parliament and a representative of the people is the most sought-after job. It is also the most lucrative by extension. It is high time we put aside our privileges and said, whatever we have been doing has not been adding value to the well-being of the people of Kenya. We want to start with the sugar cartels. I want to volunteer and join you in reducing their influence and eradicating their presence to make sure that the sugar cane farmers are freed from those cartels. Show us since we are still struggling. It has been 60 years since Independence but, I am still struggling to have the first kilometre of tarmac road in my constituency. At times, I see things like Affirmative Action and I wonder. You need to empathise with us. We have been around. We got our Independence in August 2010, when the 2010 Constitution was promulgated. I am not joking because that is the truth. I want to tell my friend, the Mover of this Motion that we have heard you. The message is loud and clear and it has been there since Independent. But this is not what we require. Let us The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1463629,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463629/?format=api",
"text_counter": 542,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
"speaker": {
"id": 41,
"legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
"slug": "adan-keynan"
},
"content": "canvass and cajole our friends in the Senate to deal with the issues before we pass that Bill and confront those people. However, I thank you for the initiative, and I am sure the farmers in your constituency will hear you."
},
{
"id": 1463630,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463630/?format=api",
"text_counter": 543,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
"speaker": {
"id": 41,
"legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
"slug": "adan-keynan"
},
"content": "My parting short is that we need to create…"
},
{
"id": 1463631,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463631/?format=api",
"text_counter": 544,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(Hon. Adan Keynan spoke off the record)"
}
]
}