Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1015490,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1015490/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 15,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Igembe South, Independent",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. John Paul Mwirigi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1574,
        "legal_name": "Cyprian Kubai Iringo",
        "slug": "cyprian-kubai-iringo"
    },
    "content": "THAT, in the Financial Year 2020/2021, the Ministry of Agriculture has reduced the allocation to Miraa to a paltry Kshs200 million despite having a huge backlog of unmet expenditures overflowing from the previous financial year; THAT, despite the Miraa Community in Nathu, Igembe North Constituency Meru County donating 50 hectares of land with the approval in writing by the County Government of Meru to the Principal Secretary for Agriculture, the land remains idle; THAT, Miraa farmers do not have a single market outside of Kenya after access to Somalia, the last such international market for the crop, from March 2020 to date; and when Somalia reopened its borders for international travel, its Government permitted the entry of other crops, but excluded the Miraa crop; THAT, whereas Section 8 of the Crops Act directly charges the Ministry of Agriculture with the responsibility to source for markets for the crop, other prospective markets such as Djibouti, Somaliland, Mozambique, Yemen, Israel and the Democratic Republic of Congo that were identified by the Miraa Taskforce Report Implementation Technical Team as having real demand for Kenyan Miraa have not been followed up; THAT, further, the research on Miraa by KEMRI that was sanctioned by Parliament itself in 2014 and the development of the Kenya Miraa Marketing Strategy by the Ministry of Agriculture that would have been the blueprint for international marketing of Miraa appears abandoned; THAT, while other Miraa growing countries in the region, particularly Ethiopia that trades with Somalia is gaining comparative advantage after it opened up its boundary to facilitate Miraa trade, the prolonged closure of Kenya-Somalia border has made overland trading of Miraa across the border impossible, leaving farmers frustrated and impoverished for lack of other sources of livelihood; THAT, on two occasions in July 2020, we had aircrafts transporting Miraa to Somalia, having been duly cleared by the relevant authorities in Kenya and Somalia, returned with the Miraa cargo, hence occasioning huge losses amounting to almost Kshs20 million; THAT, on numerous occasions, the Petitioners and other partners in Miraa business have been engaging the concerned authorities, including the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, county governments and political leadership in the region to cause the national Government to engage the Government of Somalia and negotiate an agreement for resumption of Miraa exports when the corona pandemic situation normalizes, their efforts are yet to bear any fruit; THAT, the issues in respect of which the Petition is made are not pending before any court of law, constitutional or legal body. THEREFORE, your humble Petitioner prays that the National Assembly, through the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock: (a) Engages the relevant national Government Ministries responsible for Agriculture, Trade and Industry, Transport, Interior and Foreign Affairs with a view to seeking to reopen the border with Somalia so as to have Miraa trade with Somalia resumed forthwith; (b) Intervene through the Ministry of Agriculture to ensure that the recommendations of the Miraa Taskforce Report Implementation Technical Team are implemented, the research on Miraa by KEMRI sanctioned by the National Assembly in 2014 is completed and the Kenya Miraa Marketing Strategy is developed as a blueprint for the development of Miraa farming and expansion of local and international marketing of Miraa; (c) Inquire into the utilization of funds allocated for development of Miraa farming through the Ministry of Agriculture since 2016 with a view to establishing the purposes for which such 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."
}