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"id": 1255408,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1255408/?format=api",
"text_counter": 147,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Kuria",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary of Investments, Trade and Industry",
"speaker": {
"id": 13160,
"legal_name": "Moses Kuria",
"slug": "moses-kuria"
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. On the number of companies, it is actually five companies. For avoidance of doubt, I will name the companies. They include Bidco Africa, which also goes by the name Das Africa. This company was renamed Das Africa after change of shareholding that happened in the final days of the last regime. This is public information and it is registered in Mauritius. We have Menengai, Kapa Oil Refineries Limited, Pwani Oil and Golden Africa. They are five companies in total. As to why they enjoy the preferential treatment, it is because previously, the definition of value addition, which they purport to do, was supposed to be importing crude oil mostly from one company in Malaysia called Wilmar International. One company supplies all of them with the so-called crude oil. However, a big element of what they do is actually importing refined product, do some very minimal value addition, create very few jobs and then that becomes a ticket to lock out all the SMEs out there. I agree with Sen. Cheruiyot that there are so many SMEs that would also want to play in that space, but it is not happening. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the definition of value addition to this Government is not the same as that of the previous Government in terms of edible oil. This Government believes that effective value addition must be based on what we are calling the value chain approach within our bottom-up economic transformation agenda. Today, the counties of Busia, Migori, Homabay, Kwale, Taita-Taveta, Kilifi and Lamu have a very high potential of growing of palm oil, sunflower and soya. This, we could have done many years ago to avoid continuing to import edible oil. Kenya is importing USD1 billion worth of crude palm oil every year from out there. This money is going to Indonesia and Malaysia. These are dollars that are leaving our country and hurting our economy, while our people are still poor and jobless with no income. Mr. Speaker, Sir, one of the companies, that is, Bidco Oil in Uganda, in a place called Ssese Island, has gone further ahead and done what I am describing as a value chain approach. There are plantations on 30,000 acres of land in that island, which has palm oil. Uganda is on its way to self-reliance in terms of edible oil. Tanzania is also ahead of us. Very soon, they will also be self-sufficient in terms of edible oil and stop importing. However, the same Bidco Company here, because of this huge incentive, that there is zero incentive to involve our farmers and have them grow like they are doing in Uganda, here the margin and the protection is so much that they do not need to do that."
}