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{
    "id": 1086902,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1086902/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 476,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tongaren, FORD-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Eseli Simiyu",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 141,
        "legal_name": "David Eseli Simiyu",
        "slug": "david-eseli"
    },
    "content": "government so that whoever buys the factory can lease the land from the county government. In fact, when privatizing the company, we should not go the Mumias way. The Mumias way was a big mistake and that is why the company has suffered. We need to get one strategic investor who can have slightly majority shares. The county government should not own majority shares. County governments cannot run themselves. How do you expect them to run sugar companies? I think the best thing we can do is to give the county governments a shareholding of 20 to 30 per cent and the rest to farmers. We can then get a strategic farmer to run the company. Already, we have tried leasing. Some people oppose leasing without realizing that our people are suffering and are not earning any money from the sugar companies. For how long do we keep them without any earning? The elephant in the room is zoning. The issue has been very contentious, but the Bill has looked at how India and other countries have handled it. Instead of zoning, they go regional. We can try that and see if it will be better than zoning. If I am a sugar farmer, which I have become now - I was not one before - and I have planted my own cane, why are you restricting me from taking it to somebody? I should have the freedom to take it to whoever I want. You cannot restrict me. It is my right. So, this zoning issue is a bit contentious. The other issue is the outgrower institutions. Previously, outgrower companies have been part of the problem. When farmers get fertiliser from outgrower companies, by the time they are paying for the fertiliser, most of the money that would have been their profit has gone to pay for the fertiliser. So, we need to rework the arrangement to see how outgrower companies can be tweaked to be more responsive to farmers’ needs. But the critical thing right now is to have this Bill passed by this House so that we can get back on track to where AFA took as from, and start revamping our sugar industry. If we do not revamp our sugar industries, then I am afraid the western part of this country will need to look for another crop that will keep our people afloat. You can see all of us from the western part of Kenya are still here; we have not gone home because everyone is waiting for money. They do not have money. Peoples’ sugar-cane has not been harvested. It is still in the farms. By the time they harvest, the weight will have gone down. So they will end getting negative pay slips. They will not have anything."
}