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{
    "id": 1242224,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1242224/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 914,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "was introduced, there were a lot of textile industries flourishing in Uasin Gishu County. At that time, we did not have a lot of mitumba . Concentrating everything in Nairobi is what killed the cotton industry in this country. People would go to our local hospitals even if they were not devolved. People who went to Makueni, Machakos and Lamu would get cotton to use in hospitals. Our livestock industry was benefitting a lot from the cottonseeds, which provide energy and proteins to them. Today, as a farmer, I import all my cottonseeds from Uganda. I get it as a by- product from the factories, which remove the oil and other minerals. They remove some extracts to make oil and soap. They also make fabrics and sell at high prices. We get by- products, but they are still expensive. These are the kinds of legislations that we have to bring to this House. The reason I support this Bill, although there are areas I do not and I shall talk about them, is that agriculture is devolved. This House should be in the frontline by passing legislation that promotes devolved functions. The biggest problem I have with this Bill is the fact that the proposed Board which will be set up will have headquarters in Nairobi, a place that does not produce any cotton. Why are we not comfortable with county governments building themselves? Why are we giving the national Government all the powers? The day we will recognize that our counties and the people on the ground are important to us, we shall start making legislations to ensure that boards are set up at the county level. This year’s budget is an interesting one because it will make all of us cry. I dare say that this year’s budget has not even been drafted by MPs of this country. It is a foreign drafted budget. Maybe it has some inputs from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank because of our debts. If we are to develop a budget and give our counties money, there is no reason we should set up a board for cotton development, have its headquarters here and give the President the power to appoint the Chairperson. Why are we doing so? I persuade my dear sister to change that and deny the national Government that power. The biggest problem is that we are yet to agree that we have moved away from a central Government structure. We now have two levels of government; national and county governments. Give all the powers to the county governments and deny the national Government power. You claim you have devolved agriculture and health, but most of the money is left here in Nairobi. Why are we lying to ourselves? I have a big problem of drafting legislation using a colonial mind of setting up a board. Why are we over-legislating? It is completely ludicrous. What we need to do is to support our counties because agriculture is a devolved function. If you look at the objects and memorandum of this Bill on the last page, there is a statement on how the Bill concerns county governments. It clearly states that agriculture is a devolved function set out in Paragraph 1, Part II of the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution. By facilitating the development of cotton industry in the counties, the Bill seeks to ensure that cotton farmers have opportunities to enhance cotton farming and value addition to cotton products."
}