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{
    "id": 1371173,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1371173/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 166,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "coffee. If you go to Starbucks Coffee Company, you will find that Kenyan coffee is not blended or sold as coffee from Mt. Kenya or specific areas. It just says, Kenya. Same to Ethiopian coffee. However, Kenya is different. We are a nation of 45 different tribes with different environments. We need to be proud of that. The pricing also goes with the issue of transparency and accountability. In the tea sector, people used to trade tea, but all the auctioning would happen in Mombasa. They will take all the tea, get on the train all the way to Mombasa and auction it there. So, the pricing will be decided there based on that auction and not where the tea is produced. Mombasa does not produce tea. So, it is timely that we look at it. One of the things that I would like us to take away from this Bill is the role of empowering Cabinet Secretaries. We need to empower the County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) in charge of agriculture in counties. For example, if you look at Clause 94 of the Bill, it says- “The Cabinet Secretary may, in consultation with the Board, make regulations– - (a) prescribing anything that may be prescribed under this Act” Why on earth are we giving this Cabinet Secretaries such powers? Mr. Speaker, Sir, we need to wake up and smell the coffee. Agriculture is devolved. It is true that the Cabinet Secretary formulates policies on different sectors. However, do we really want to give him so much power such that, Governor Natembeya in Trans Nzoia, cannot sit with his CECM, go directly to the people and ask them to work together as a cooperative, come up with policies or a board to make regulations on how they are going to trade and make money? Everything must be about making money. We make money and live well. Being poor, especially now, is one of the most expensive things you can ever have. It is not that we are poor; our minds are colonized. We do not produce what will help us build our economy. We produce what will help other economies build their own economies. I have reiterated this, but let me just add more flesh into it. It is imperative that when we blend, we add value. I can see my time is ending. Just like we have a wine connoisseur, we can have one for coffee. They say, when you blend the beans from Trans Nzoia and the beans from Narok, you have this type of coffee. We add value to it. These regulations must also enhance that. I see my time is running out. I therefore want to end by saying that there is one thing that I do not see here. I wish that the Chairperson can relook into this Bill. I hope that we can talk so that we can change a few things at the Committee on the Whole to make it neater. This is because, you might bring one change and then politics get in the way and they say, they just want it this way. There is no Bill that we pass here that has no interest outside. Most of the Bills we pass here are actually sponsored by lobbies out there. We just come here, fight for them and they continue making all their money. We need to ask ourselves if we can promote partnerships and collaborations. Can we promote this and make it possible for farmers in Narok, Kajiado and Trans Nzoia? This is because we give this Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development a lot of money. Can we promote partnerships and collaborations between the Government, the"
}