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{
    "id": 1184375,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1184375/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 410,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Trans Nzoia, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Lilian Siyoi",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker for giving me a chance to support this Motion. I congratulate Hon. Kirwa. I am the County Member for Trans Nzoia, which is the largest maize producer in the country. I do not think we have reached a level of importing maize. Trans Nzoia farmers have plenty of maize which has not been bought. When we import maize, it would only imply that we have already exhausted our locally produced stocks, which is not the case. We are killing farming in the country by importing cheap maize. We cannot import maize and claim to be supportive of farmers. If we do not provide a platform to farmers to sell their produce, we will be killing farming in the country. I am surprised that the Cabinet Secretary could make such a decision by himself. He made a big decision without consulting the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock. The Members of the Committee do not understand what is going on. We are putting blame on them for something they are totally innocent on. Importation of maize is illegal. As for the maize that has already been shipped in, we do not want to see it offloaded onto the market because it will lock out our farmers from accessing that market. The maize that has been brought into the country will kill the price of locally produced maize, bearing in mind the fact that the costs of inputs in the season that has just ended were very high. If at all we do not give farmers a platform to sell their maize, we will have another situation of maize shortages in the country next year. People will shy away from farming and we will continue to import maize. We will eventually kill the agriculture sector in our country. It is for those reasons that I support this Motion. Distribution of the GMO maize that has been imported should be stopped with immediate effect. With those remarks, I support."
}