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{
    "id": 1132936,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1132936/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 48,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ainamoi, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Sylvanus Maritim",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13289,
        "legal_name": "Sylvanus Maritim",
        "slug": "sylvanus-maritim"
    },
    "content": "THAT, the continued redundancy of employees resulting from deployment of heavy mechanisation of tea harvesting has caused a sudden slump in the local economy by an estimated 20 per cent; THAT, it is believed that apart from possible health hazards, the heavy tea-plucking machines compromise the quality of tea in the international market, which denies the country the much required foreign exchange; THAT, if the issues raised by this Petition are not urgently addressed, many livelihoods that depend on the income of manual tea pickers stand the risk of deterioration due to massive redundancy of their breadwinners, collapse of regional economies in the tea-growing zones and deterioration of Kenya’s dominance in the international tea market; and, THAT, none of the issues raised in this Petition is pending in a court of law, constitutional or any other legal body. Therefore, your humble petitioners pray that the National Assembly, through the Departmental Committee on Labour and Social Welfare: (i) intervenes in the matter with a view of recommending phased introduction of heavy tea-harvesting machines in all tea-growing areas, particularly in Bomet and Kericho counties, so as to safeguard against inhuman and massive job losses due to redundancy; (ii) urgently reviews existing legislation and policies on mechanisation of tea harvesting in order to provide a framework to regulate mechanisation of tea plucking so as to safeguard tea plantation workers’ livelihoods; (iii) recommends a mandatory setting aside of a minimum percentage of tea plantations that multinational tea firms must harvest mechanically in order to forestall further job losses; (iv) inquire into possibilities of hazardous effects that mechanised tea plucking has on the quality of Kenya’s plucked tea and safety of tea plantation workers who run the machines, with a view of ascertaining whether they are in line with ILO Convention 184 on safety and health in agriculture; (v) recommend to the Ministry of Health and the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) to formulate and carry out periodic review of a coherent national policy on safety and health in tea plantations; (vi) inquire into serious breaches of law and human rights that multinational tea companies have been committing against tea plantation workers and recommend appropriate remedies to secure the right of manual tea pickers to fair labour practices as contemplated in Article 14 of the Constitution and in line with international and national labour laws; and, (vii) make other recommendations it deems appropriate in addressing the plight of the Petitioners. And your Petitioners will forever pray. Thank you."
}