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{
    "id": 132910,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/132910/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 281,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kosgey",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Industrialization",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 177,
        "legal_name": "Henry Kiprono Kosgey",
        "slug": "henry-kosgey"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will start with the last two questions. I would like to assure Mr. Wamalwa that, that will exists. The Government committed itself to the revival of Pan African Paper Mills. The will still exists and we will revive the factory. Unfortunately, the negotiations between us and the short-term and long-term lenders ran into a hitch. This is because the lenders gave us conditions which are untenable. In the last meeting I had with the officials, and this is part of the answer to Mr. Kombo’s question, I told them that we will now exercise our sovereign right as a Government. We shall seek a court order, in the national interest, to revive the company as the majority shareholders. We will also marshal all the lenders to agree on a revival strategy, which we have worked out, that will see the company sold to an interested party with a condition that the factory is revived. This is the last card that we have. I have already invoked that because the on and off negotiations with the lenders does not yield anything. We have lost nearly three months. I assure Mr. Sambu who is my friend that I am very serious and I want that factory revived. I am committed towards that end. So we are really committed. As I said, the other shareholders ran away but, legally, they still hold the 54 per cent shareholding of the factory. So, unless we actually sell the factory under a joint receivership arrangement to new owners, they cannot forfeit. They can forfeit after its sale. At the moment, if we just walk in and revive it, they can just say: “This is our asset. Thank you for reviving it.” So, I would like Mr. Sambu and myself to remain friends and become serous. I want us to work together on the revival programme of the factory. I will do the last bit when I invoke our sovereign right as a country, in the national interest, to almost forcefully revive the factory in the manner I have outlined. As pointed out by Dr. Eseli, there is corrosion going on. We are aware of that fact. We have been warned by the technical team that we should look into the issue. They pointed out that issue. Incidentally, the technical team wanted Kshs1.6 billion for reviving it. You can see that even Kshs1.6 billion will not revive it; instead of Kshs1.6 million we have provided Kshs500 million. We have the will"
}