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{
"id": 1281153,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1281153/?format=api",
"text_counter": 1193,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Nyando, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Jared Okello",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. This Bill could not have come at a better time. I thank my brother, Hon. Wangwe, for carrying the mantle we almost abandoned in the last regime. Sugar and sugarcane, by extension, have suffered the most among all commodities in this country. The reason is simple. During political campaigns, sugar becomes a low-hanging fruit in mopping up funds to carry out political campaigns in this country. Successive regimes have abused this. Therefore, without any input to give credence to this Bill, that behaviour will continue forever. Therefore, this Bill is timely. I sit in the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock, which is superintended by my brother, Hon. Mutunga, and the Vice Chairperson, Hon. Yegon, and with my colleagues who together burnt the midnight oil, looking at this Bill Clause by Clause, putting in necessary flesh to this Bill so that sugar matters can be handled once and for all. We hope this House will rally behind this Bill so that farmers who have been languishing for the longest will find recourse. Millions of families depend on sugarcane and sugar. The value chain, from the farm to the end user, has millions of people who directly and indirectly depend on this product. When we talk about catchment areas for sugarcane, it does not limit itself to western Kenya, which means Nyanza together with the Western Region. Rift Valley, for instance, has the best soil to support sugarcane growth. However, because there have been myriad frustrations in the value chain, people have chosen to cut back on their investments in sugarcane. We have seen instances where families uproot sugarcane because there is nothing to write home about it. This Bill will inevitably go a long way to address all the gaps that have consistently existed within the sugar value chain. Western Kenya, for instance, has thousands and thousands of lands lying idle, with no sugarcane on it, yet it is a sugar-growing region. As a Committee, we had a very good opportunity to visit all the sugar companies in this country. We met farmers, owners of sugar companies, and staff members, and they presented their various plights on areas we need to improve. All those were captured in the sugar report that ultimately made it to the Sugar Bill we are discussing today. I suppose the Government will pay a lot of attention to these areas capable of growing sugarcane, give farmers necessary input, and provide information through extension officers that have also been proposed in the Bill. That way, this country will be able to export sugar and not import, which is the current status. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}