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{
    "id": 121266,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/121266/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 394,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Jirongo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 29,
        "legal_name": "Cyrus Khwa Shakhalaga Jirongo",
        "slug": "cyrus-jirongo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. First of all, let me take this opportunity to assure the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance that all of us were impressed with the devolved budgeting that he did earlier in the year. What is important is to ensure that the constituencies tender committees are functioning. For once, we had an opportunity, as Kenyans, to deal with our taxes at the grassroots level. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I support him, there are certain issues which we feel need to be looked into. The Budget was targeting to stimulate the economy. But there are already economic ventures in this country that we feel needed to be funded and looked into, because you cannot talk of stimulating the economy and decide to let what you have go to waste. When I say this, I have in mind a few institutions of economic importance to this country that are being left to go to waste. Once such institution is Nzoia Sugar Company. I believe that if the Government wants to privatize Nzoia Sugar Company, it needs to invest in it and make it more viable. We know that this country spends a lot of foreign exchange on the importation of sugar. We also know that there are various other sugar products including bargasse, alcohol and power generation. It is high time that the Government looked into more investment in our sugar industry, so that they can compete effectively. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, over the weekend, our Presidents talked about free trade within the East African Community (EAC). We know that Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is also coming up. Unless our industries are made competitive, they will end up closing down. The tea industry is very critical to this country. At one time, it was one of the sectors that Kenyans relied on in terms of foreign exchange. But tea factories like Mudete are going down the drain. Farmers have now decided to sell their tea to Finlay simply because whatever they deliver is taken away from them in form of paying debts. Busia"
}