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{
    "id": 1183800,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1183800/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 208,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cherarkey",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13217,
        "legal_name": "Cherarkey K Samson",
        "slug": "cherarkey-k-samson"
    },
    "content": "If you travel to many of these countries, you will not be allowed to play with a farmer. A farmer is next to God because they are the people who feed a nation. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Motion by the Sen. Gataya Mo Fire of Tharaka Nithi County is timely because this is the time we are discussing about food security. I appreciate that there are four million Kenyans suffering from hunger. We agree that counties are affected by drought and famine. This is a climate change phenomenon but it is our mistake for refusing to plan. Agriculture was devolved two or three years ago. There was Kshs11 billion that was at the Strategic Grain Reserve. No one knows where that money is or what happened during the time of the previous Cabinet Secretary (CS) of Agriculture. What did he do with the National Strategic Grain Reserve? Why the Strategic Grain Reserve was destroyed or made non-functional is a story for another day. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have heard a miscommunication from even leaders on the Floor of the House alleging that farmers in North Rift or maize growing areas are hoarding maize. For your information, we are not hoarding maize. It is propaganda to destroy the integrity of farmers. As leaders who represents farmers in this House, we shall not allow people who eat pizza, rice and other things to make propaganda against maize farmers. We are harvesting maize this season. The Senator of Nairobi City County does not plant maize but consumes a lot. The question he and Kenyans should ask themselves is why the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) is not open. Where should we take our maize? The National Strategic Grain Reserve is not open. Where do you want us to take our maize? Should we take to individual Members of Parliament or to the CS’s office? Did the CS for Trade want us to mop up all the maize and take it to his office so that he knows there is maize? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, that is the question that everybody is asking. We need to be honest and fair to ourselves in order to move forward as a country. We cannot mislead the public that farmers are hoarding maize yet, NCPB and the National Strategic Grain Reserve are not open. The CS should have told us that because those entities are not open, we take to his office. We would have lined up outside his office here in Nairobi. The gazette notice that allows 10 million bags of duty free maize should not be gazetted any time and should be rescinded or delayed up to April next year so as to allow our farmers to harvest, mop up the maize and then sell. We are proposing something very simple. We bought fertilizer at Kshs7,000. We want the same amount for a bag of maize. It will be a done deal and a zero-sum game. We were very patriotic and went to farming in the last planting season when the inputs were very expensive. We appreciate the Government of His Excellency, Dr. William Ruto that at least, the fertilizer subsidy has been reintroduced and we will be buying Kshs3,500 per bag. We hope – God willing - during the next planting season in 2023, it can come down to Kshs2,500. We hope the cost of fuel will come down. I assure the country that if the cost of production will come down, we can sell our maize at Kshs1,500 or Kshs1,000 per bag as long as inputs are cheaper. As Sen. Mandago said, for those of us who came from the North Rift, it is maize that has made us who we are. I would not have gone to school if my parents were not"
}