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{
    "id": 1259520,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1259520/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 422,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wambua",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13199,
        "legal_name": "Enoch Kiio Wambua",
        "slug": "enoch-kiio-wambua"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it will interest this House to take note that in this harvest that we are doing this month and last month, these beans were planted around March. At the time of planting, the people that were buying from markets to come and plant these beans in their farms were buying a kilogram at not less that Kshs270. When they are buying today, they say they are buying a kilogramme at Kshs50. In the next two weeks, the price from farmers may drop further to as low as Kshs30 per kilogramme. If we ensure that mung beans is part of the national and school feeding programmes, then we shall stabilize the prices of this produce from our farms. The county governments under Clause 7 have a responsibility to ensure that the mung bean policy is incorporated in their respective County Integrated Development Plans. By doing so, the Cabinet Secretary at the national level is under obligation in this Bill to publish a national mung bean policy in the gazette and review the policy at least every five years. In so doing, facilitate public participation and involvement in the development and review of the policy. Mr. Speaker, Sir, when the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries from the Senate went out to carry pubic participation on this Bill, the Chairperson of the Committee, Sen. (Dr.) Murango, was with me in that public participation exercise. The turnout itself for the public participation was a statement that people are eagerly waiting for this Senate to pass this Bill so that they can begin to get the benefit of their crop. In one market called Ngomeni in Mwingi North, we were confronted by more than 1,500 people who turned out for public participation on this Bill. This is because they produce so much of it for so many years and all the time they have been exploited by middle men. This is an opportunity for this Senate to come to the rescue of the peasant farmers who grow mung beans. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I was talking to my colleagues on the Government side. I am telling them that if there is any Bill that really touches on the people they describe as “hustlers”, then this is that Bill. This is a Bill that has the capacity to transform lives. As I was saying yesterday, we should not get the wrong perception that this is a Bill that is only going to benefit the people and the peasant farmers from Ukambani. That is far from it. Nominated Sen. Ogola, she is in the House, if she gets an opportunity, she will tell this House how the residents of a section of Kisumu County are glued to their screens waiting to see the fate of this Bill because they have also been seriously exploited by middle men. They are planting these beans every year and not getting any benefits from it. Mr. Speaker Sir, there is a clarification in this Bill that I need to make upfront. Part C of the Bill talks on the regulatory provisions. Clause 8 states; “Each CECM shall maintain a register of all mung bean growers registered in the respective county under subsection 1 specifying; (a) the name of the grower the location, size and parcel number of the land on which the mung bean is grown, the variety of the mung bean grown”. Questions have been asked as to why we should require those farmers that are growing these beans to register with the respective authorities."
}