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{
    "id": 133682,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/133682/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 161,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Samoei",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Agriculture",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 204,
        "legal_name": "William Samoei Ruto",
        "slug": "william-ruto"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, starting with the last Member, I want to tell him that the privatization of these sugar companies is informed by diversification of the products that come out of the sugar factories. The reason we are privatizing these sugar companies is because we want them to be competitive. Part of the competition will be in product diversification, including what the Member has said; production of industrial sugar. So, companies and investors who will be prepared to broaden or expand product base will have an edge over those who would want to produce the traditional products that are already in the market. To answer the other questions, yes, the farmers will not only have a special place but will also have preferential shares that will be set aside for them. We do not want a situation where farmers are reduced to mere producers. We want the farmers to participate even as investors in their own sugar companies in areas of their locality. This exercise will equally be informed by the input of this House when the Sessional Paper comes. We will ensure that the interest of Members here, as representatives of the sugar cane growers, is taken into account. Mr. Speaker, Sir, there could not have been a better time to privatize the sugar companies. In fact, this privatization process is ten years behind schedule. That is why we have asked for safeguards. If we did not ask for safeguards, all our sugar companies would have collapsed because they were not in a position to compete with sister sugar companies in the COMESA countries. Therefore, there is only one direction to go; that is, to make our sugar companies competitive by ensuring that we broaden their product base and do co-generation and product diversification and bring in the expertise of the private sector into the management of sugar companies. Those are the issues that were raised."
}