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"id": 1012686,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kathiani, WDM-K",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Robert Mbui",
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"content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I rise to support this Report by the Committee on Implementation, which is really timely. Many issues that I wanted to raise have just been ably canvassed by the Hon. Member for Tinderet. It is also my observation that our founding fathers were visionary because they came up with a plan for the country. They said: “We want to deal with the issue of poverty and hunger.” This is what this kind of industry kind of deals with because if farmers are successful, then the issue of poverty is eradicated and the issue of food is also sorted out. Unfortunately, many years after the Independence of this country, farmers are getting poorer. Actually, it is a fact that they were able to feed, educate and clothe their children. But now, the poorest Kenyan is actually a farmer. This is unfortunate because many Kenyans are basically still involved in farming activities. So, what has led us to this? First and foremost, I want to agree that it is really as a result of poor policies. It is due to poor policies in the industry especially in the sugar industry where we allow cheap imports that come to compete with locally produced sugar which, of course, is also expensive because of the inputs that are expected. There is also the problem of poor management of the mills which has been one of the major issues from time immemorial. I remember mentioning another time that I had a neighbour – and this is directly related to corruption – who was doing so badly financially that he tried to sell his piece of land. Fortunately, he got recruited into the sugar industry and he was working in one of those sugar authorities in the country. Within no time, actually, a turnaround period of six months, that gentleman stopped selling his own land and bought all his neighbours off. He bought everyone off from left, right and centre. Clearly, his salary could not have been able to afford that. So, that was obviously coming from the hard-earned income of the farmers that they are denied because the corrupt cartels are always able to do that. So, that industry also ends up collapsing. Many times, you have seen the Government attempting to inject funds to rescue it, and even those funds somehow find their way into the pockets of the people. So, it is important that this Report be implemented to the letter so that those people who are culpable are identified and dealt with accordingly. It is true that all our other agricultural sectors are affected such as cotton, maize, milk, coffee, et cetera . All those are affected severely. Recently, as a member of the Committee on Delegated Legislation, we have been involved in a matter to do with tea. It is so shocking how Kenyans perceive their own Government. If you go to the Rift Valley region, you will find everybody in that area wants nothing to do with the regulations proposed by the Cabinet Secretary that have already been gazetted and yet, if you go to the Central region, you will find everybody is fully in support. It is like two different worlds. The regulations and players are the same, and 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."
}