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{
    "id": 1255567,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1255567/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 306,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Linturi",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 69,
        "legal_name": "Franklin Mithika Linturi",
        "slug": "franklin-linturi"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the 280,000 metric tons is what was authorized between December and now. We have had over 100,000 metric tons getting in to the country and it has already been consumed. I remember in the months of March, April and May, a 50 kilo gramme bag of sugar was retailing for around Kshs6,000. That is from the prices we were able to gather after we brought in to the country 80,000 metric tons of sugar. Out of the first authorization of 100,000 metric tons, only 20,000 tons still remains. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, since this is a very first moving commodity, we were able to stabilize the market for a short time. There has not been any sugar within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) which really supports this country. Everyone knows that our milling capacity in the country has continuously decreased. Sugarcane farmers are not keen in producing enough because of the problems that have been in the sugar industry. Again, when the prices of sugar shot up to the tune of Kshs80,000 Sen. Mandago, we realized that for us to be able to contain the situation, we sought authority to get more sugar come in from the non-COMESA region because there was no sugar within COMESA. It was on 25th of May that I again sought Cabinet approval. We then gave permit for importation of another extra 180,000 metric tons. I want to be honest because it is not fair, reasonable or gentlemanly to not be clear especially when making presentation to a House of Parliament. Out of the 180,000 metric tons of permits that were given last month, no importer has been able to ship in sugar. However, I expect inflows of sugar in the second week of July. For the last one month, the prices of sugar have been quite high because we have had very little supply of the commodity in the market. We also attribute the increased price to the fluctuation of the Dollar versus the Kenyan shilling. Our currency has continually weakened. Remember, we are exchanging a dollar at Kshs142. Let me also mention that for us to be able to deal with the issues of food in this country, we have to deliberately invest in our farmers. As leaders, we have to deliberately sensitize the country and our farmers to really get back to the farms and take advantage of the interventions that the Government is putting in place. Without our increased production of cane and milling capacity of the sugar mills, then we will continually live with this problem. I had a meeting with the sugar caucus, the Senators and the governors from the sugar-growing belt. We have had discussions and we are coming up with a programme on how to address this issue so that there is increased production of cane and milling. We will be coming with some reforms to this House; we kindly ask for your support. The Sugar Bill is also lying somewhere. We are asking for meetings for us to make considerations and see how to address the issue."
}