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{
    "id": 1030367,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1030367/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 61,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Khaniri",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 171,
        "legal_name": "George Munyasa Khaniri",
        "slug": "george-khaniri"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I had just said that although the Mudete Tea Factory has seen the Mudete Market grow tremendously, today, tea farmers have a different story to tell of the factory. It is a story of misery and regrets. They tell of how the tea factory is demanding that they reduce the moisture content in plucked tea leaves before delivery; the nightmare in weighing of the tea; farmers having no convenient and practical time to deliver the tea leaves because this depends on the time the collecting lorries arrive at the buying centres; sometimes as early as 9.00 a.m. and other times as late as 11.00 p.m. exposing farmers to insecurity, cold and stress. In addition to the above, farmers are sometimes forced to throw away tea leaves delivered at the tea buying centres for flimsy reasons depending on the mood of the weighing clerk at the tea buying centres. Imagine a tea farmer who woke up at 6.00 a.m., went to the farm to pluck tea leaves until past midday, delivered the tea leaves at the tea buying centre in the afternoon, waited for the weighing clerk to come at 10.00 p.m. at night only to be told that his/her tea is not of acceptable standard and quality. Even though factories deduct a specific percentage of money for the purchase of subsidised fertilizers, the supply of the same is never certain and is shrouded in corruption. For instance, in the current financial year, farmers have not been supplied with fertilizer and the convenient reason being that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the purchase and transportation of the same yet we all know that export and import business has continued in the country during the pandemic, although in reduced volume. Today, tea farmers in Vihiga as well as other parts of the country are uprooting tea crops for alternative agriculture. This is on the backdrop of the fact that Kenya’s tea is a highly marketable product in the international market. Such should not be the case in a country with a functioning government consisting of a democratically elected Parliament. There are a number of issues that need to be solved urgently; the issue of taxation and general management of the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) and fast tracking of legislation on tea in Parliament. Mr. Speaker, I was a Member of the Ad hoc Committee that investigated challenges faced by the tea farmers in the country, a committee that was chaired by Sen. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}