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{
    "id": 1159163,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1159163/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 403,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Musuruve",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13188,
        "legal_name": "Getrude Musuruve Inimah",
        "slug": "getrude-musuruve-inimah"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support this Bill by Sen. Ndwiga. This Bill is very important especially given the fact that Kenya is predominantly an agricultural country. We need to diversify and see how to encourage our farmers. It is very clear that as Kenya we signed international treaties that affirmed that we are going to support agriculture. One of the treaties that Kenya signed was the Maputo Declaration. The declaration said that about 10 per cent of the National Revenue would go to farming. When it comes to agriculture, Kenya is bound by international laws. Therefore, as the Senate, we have to ensure that we deliver the international commitments that we have made in regards to supporting our farmers. Mr. Temporary Speaker, when I was a young girl, my mother, who had been very active from her early years used to work in a cotton factory called Maridadi Fabrics. When I used to visit, I would see a lot of works going on. The produce she got at the end of the month helped us. She was able to pay fees together with her husband, Mr. Inima. We need to see how to revive the cotton industry because it will be a win-win situation for everyone. It will employ skilled, semiskilled and unskilled personnel. Once of the things that we are looking at as a country is to create employment. The illiterate and literate will get some employment from the revival of the cotton industry. I remember there was a manufacturing industry called Kisumu Cotton Mills (KICOMI) that was doing so well. It was predominantly cotton based and had employed so many people. We must defend this Bill and make sure that it sees the light at the end of the tunnel because it is clear in what it is proposing. One of the things that it proposes is production of cotton which means that we will own the cotton that we will produce. We do not have to buy from elsewhere or import. It will be raw material that is Kenyan based. Apart from production, the Bill also proposes also the processing of cotton. We have seen products that are made and grown in Kenya but are processed abroad. For example, coffee, is processed abroad and when it comes back, it is very expensive. Even the farmer who planted it is unable to afford it. This Bill is very clear that apart from production of cotton, we shall have processing, marketing and distribution of cotton and its products. This is a very rich Bill that is fully fledged. It will protect the farmers from middle men and also ensure that they get value for their sweat. Many times, farmers do a lot of work but when it comes to benefiting, middlemen and brokers benefit more. If this Bill is really followed to the latter, cotton farmers will have value for their money. It also means that we will not have to import cotton. In any case, we shall be exporting what we have. In the many times I have gone abroad, I have seen many people liking the Kenyan products like the real cotton and so on. The by-products also come in handy. They make"
}