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"id": 1030415,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Cherargei",
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"legal_name": "Cherarkey K Samson",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity. I want to thank Sen. George Khaniri, my neighbour, for this Statement on the issues surrounding the tea sector. We agree that tea is one of the economic backbones, especially in Nandi County. Three quarters of Nandi County is covered by tea. There are many bottlenecks, and I think that most of them are by the legal regime. The other day, I saw that the Cabinet Secretary (CS) in charge of Agriculture trying to bring tea regulations, which created a tea storm in a tea cup, because of the various interest groups that have been there. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we need to agree on how to proceed, especially on the review of regulations and the legal regime within the tea sector. Tea farmers nowadays pay more to tea pickers than they get. They pay a lot of money to get subsidized fertilizers, and there are many other challenges that the tea sector is facing. Another issue that is facing the tea sector is the issue of auctions, especially in Mombasa and the running of the sale of tea, as my brother, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., has said. It is becoming one of the biggest challenges in the sale of tea. I hope that the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries will guide the House on this. We should not use a lot of money to sell tea, because everybody in this country and even across the world--- Although coffee is overtaking tea, I think we need to agree on how to proceed. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the third issue is on the historical land injustices. I am happy that Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., Sen. Omogeni, Sen. (Rev) Waqo and I had the privilege of being in Kericho County, courtesy of Sen. Cheruiyot, and you could see the pain of tea farmers. As much as there are huge tracts of tea farms within Kericho, Nandi and Bomet, where Sen. (Dr.) Lang’at comes from, the biggest beneficiaries and owners of those tea farms are majorly multinational companies. The elephant in the room is to address the issue of historical land injustices. Most of the land where tea is grown is still owned by British veterans, multinational companies and various cartels in the country. Even as we address the tea reforms within the tea sector, we must address the elephant in the room, which is historical land injustices. 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."
}