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{
    "id": 1213778,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1213778/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 149,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tetu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Geoffrey Wandeto",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker for giving me an opportunity to also contribute to this Motion. I rise to support the annulment of these regulations. I come from a coffee growing area. Some of us were brought up and educated with proceeds of coffee. I say without fear of contradiction that as we speak, the bulk of coffee farmers in Tetu have either altogether cut down their coffee trees or the few who are maintaining them cannot break even. Most of them have become impoverished. It is now upon this House to come to the rescue of the millions of the long-suffering coffee farmers not only from Tetu and Nyeri but also from all the counties within the Republic of Kenya. We know that from the1980s through to the 1990s, the coffee industry became gradually repurposed to serve the interests of very few people, excluding the farmers, which is in other words called “state capture.” It is very important for this House, being the 13th Parliament, to now rise to the occasion to basically break down these cartels once and for all. Any draft regulations that take the coffee farmer back, impoverish him or give power to a centralized authority even when we know that agriculture is a devolved function, are basically retrogressive and, therefore, should not be allowed to become law in this country. Hon. Temporary Speaker, many times, we are told that our farmers are paid low prices because the price of coffee at the international market is low. However, I have had a chance to look at what is happening at the international market. A few weeks ago, a 50-kilogramme bag of Double “A” coffee from Ethiopia was retailing at about USD480 in the international market. In Kenya, a similar quantity of coffee of superior quality was retailing at USD250. You can see that there is clear manipulation of the market dynamics by cartels to ensure that the farmer remains impoverished. Over and above, we all know that the same people who stand on one The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}