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{
    "id": 120307,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/120307/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 240,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Ethuro",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 158,
        "legal_name": "Ekwee David Ethuro",
        "slug": "ekwee-ethuro"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Bill. Ordinarily, as a trained and practicing economist, I would be very averse to support anything that limits the free movement of goods and services, being a firm believer in perfect competition as a market model. But we have just witnessed that even the free markets sometimes fail. This is an assumption that is accepted in the economic theory. There are times when you need to make serious State interventions and that is what has happened with the financial economic meltdown in the US since the “brothers” decided to cause havoc to the rest of the world. This Bill, if you look at it, is not advocating controlling prices. In fact, my good friend hon. Ephraim Maina, has put it very well that it is the price control of (essential goods). That is the crux of the matter. It is about essential goods in terms of basic provisions. That is what we would ordinarily call the basket of goods that every household must be entitled to. This Bill is promoting a situation where a Government should ensure that every citizen of the Republic shall not die because of want of basic services or goods, particularly, things like wheat and maize flour which is the staple food of this country. We must guarantee that. Therefore, we should not look at it in the narrow sense of curtailing an economic model which has been practiced and warranted. Article 2 spells out the essential goods. They are the goods that will ensure that every household has some food and will not starve. They are essential, given that 10 million Kenyans, as we speak today, are beneficiaries of famine relief food. In any case, the Government has an obligation to provide food to its citizens. It is providing food now through famine relief programmes. It is spending a lot of money on that. The Government needs to be creative. If you think that we cannot determine the prices, the Government can put up a stabilization fund that would ensure that the fluctuations are taken care of for the sake of producers such as those in the grain basket of this country. I know that my friend, Dr. Wekesa, may be sitting here for the purpose of ensuring that the producers of the commodities do not suffer. In the agricultural policy of the USA, you will find that the nation gives incentives to farmers not to produce certain commodities or crops, so that they do not depress the prices of particular commodities."
}