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{
    "id": 1088308,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1088308/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 197,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": "although we need to provide a penalty for an errant county government official who levies fees from a farmer when it is said no levies should be applied to the farmer. More importantly is Clause 26. Sen. Ndwiga should note it because it is very critical. It says: “A person or entity shall not carry out the business of a coffee grower, nursery operator, cooperative society, coffee association or coffee estate unless such a person is registered by the respective county government in which the business is to be undertaken.” I would like them to pluck out the words “coffee grower.” If I have my land and the climate where I am is conducive for coffee growing, I do not need to go and register with anybody. All I need to do is find an opportunity to get the nursery seedlings, plant the coffee and deliver it where it can be processed. At this rate, we are going to create a situation where the county governments will behave how President Museveni used say. Immigration officers think that their duty is to prevent people from travelling, not to help them to travel. The county governments will start thinking that their duty is to prevent people from growing, unless you go to them. Believe me Sen. Ndwiga when you go to them for the permit, you will pay money even if you say a farmer should not pay. This is because a cartel will establish itself somewhere and will deal with this. I think we need to get this overregulation out of this statute. Madam Temporary Speaker, why I say that should be removed is that when you read Clause 26 together with Clause 27, you see the danger. Clause 27 establishes an offence. It says: “A person who contravenes the provisions of sub-clause (1) on registration commits an offence and is liable to conviction a fine not exceeding Kshs1 million.” If a farmer wakes up and plants half an acre of his coffee without that permit, he will be arrested, prosecuted and fined Kshs1 million. Do you see the danger? We need to remove that provision so that we leave anyone with their land who can plant coffee, to do so without restrictions. All you need for quality control is to license pulping, grading and marketing, so that we are more orderly. Clause 29 says such a licence should be renewed every year. A coffee farmer must go for a license every year for a crop that lasts 100 years? It does not make a lot of legal sense. Madam Temporary Speaker, on the establishment of the CRI, I do not know what prompted them to say that the headquarters of the institute shall be in Kiambu. Unless you are talking of the existing CRI in Ruiru. There are counties that grow coffee like Kisii, Bungoma and Nyamira. We do not want to start competing. You should say that the CRI shall be the one already established in Ruiru, or something like that. When you say Kiambu, I will ask why not Bungoma, Embu, Meru, Nyeri or Kisii? This ambiguity should be cleared. The CRI should be liberalized within this statute so that the CRI in Ruiru can open research satellites in Kisii, Bungoma, Kitale or wherever. We have different climatic conditions in various parts of the country. The research should continue so that if"
}