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{
    "id": 1239605,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1239605/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 209,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cherarkey",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13217,
        "legal_name": "Cherarkey K Samson",
        "slug": "cherarkey-k-samson"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I support Sen. Kathuri for this wonderful Statement. The issue of miraa is critical because it is one of the cash crops grown by the Meru Community. It is unfortunate because of the harassment when people use the SGR to take goods and services in order to offset the loan that was taken through Exim Bank and China, famously known as the ‘Road to Shanghai’. We have had cases of those who run the SGR, including the foreign nationals who are popularly known as expatriates--- I have always wondered what type of expatriates come and collect fare, like we have to import everything from China. This is not only about miraa farmers and traders; it is also about the Kenyans who have been harassed. There were cases where a number of workers who used to work on the SGR were harassed until they were replaced by Chinese nationals. Miraa is a critical cash crop. It is a blood lifeline of the people from Mt. Kenya, specifically Meru County. I usually see them coming to Nairobi. I am told they do not have breaks, but I want to believe they do, especially when they carry their miraa to Nairobi using Double- Cabin Hilux Pick-ups. They do it at supersonic speeds and that has a positive impact on the tax. There was an agreement between Kenya and Somaliland to export miraa, which is an important consumable there. I request the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Agriculture, Livestock Development and Fisheries, Hon. Mithika Linturi, a former Senator, who fortunately comes from Meru County, and the CS in charge of the National Treasury, to look into this matter because we are talking about Kshs3.6 trillion. We have a budget deficit of around Kshs800 billion. If we harass miraa farmers and business people who use the SGR, we may not raise the necessary revenue, and that worries me. At one time, the President of Tanzania, Her Excellency Hon. Samia Suluhu Hassan said: ‘If you close a business which you are collecting tax from, how will you collect the same tax next time?’ It is like killing a cow that you are milking for your children. Where will you get milk next time? I condemn the harassment of the Miraa traders. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as we proceed on recess, I request you to direct the Committee to give us a progress report even if it means that the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries and Committee on Tourism, Trade and Industrialisation jointly visit and ascertain these allegations of harassment. This Government came through a guaranteed minimum return. That included Miraa farmers."
}