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{
    "id": 1379152,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1379152/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 258,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Linturi",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 69,
        "legal_name": "Franklin Mithika Linturi",
        "slug": "franklin-linturi"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for us to preserve our perishable food items, the Government’s agenda and one of the areas it is keen on, is in value addition. The concept and the philosophy behind the County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPs) was for us to be able to aggregate our produce and add value so that we reduce post-harvest losses. If we are to add value and extend shelf life, it is automatic that we will have to provide cold-rooms for that preservation. I was lucky to discuss last week with my sister, Hon. Rebecca Miano on these CAIPs and I can confirm that within that framework, our CAIPs will have those cold-rooms. There will be no reason for people to worry because that is being addressed. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there are certain levies and taxes that are charged by the two levels of the Government in certain cases. People may interpret them differently, but I know that most of the counties charge cess on what is transported, or sold within their counties. We have discussed with the Speaker Emeritus of this House who is the Chair of the Agricultural Committee within the Council of Governors (CoG). This is for us to agree if farmers or traders transporting food from a rich food county to a county that has hunger, should not be given the benefit of accessing cheap food by counties coming up with a tax or a levy regime that is not very punitive to our traders or farmers. Sen. Maanzo, we have realized it is happening. We are in the discussions of trying to create harmony so that at least there is a free flow of food items in the country because we do not want to have some of our people suffering. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to stop there. Just like I said before, taxes have to be paid if we are to finance our budgets. Let us be specific on what tax we are talking about. There is Pay as You Earn (PAYE) tax, corporate tax et cetera. Whatever it is, tax is our responsibility as responsible citizens. There cannot be a service without tax. So, let us agree. Save us from this shame of going with bowls to borrow. Sen. Olekina, you can never finance recurrent expenditures. I have no problem borrowing for development, but not recurrent expenditure. If I give you money today or if you were busy putting your sufuria on the head and not grow maize; even if I give you maize to eat in the morning, you will be hungry at noon and in the evening. So, the best thing is to give you fertilizer for you to grow your own bag or two of maize to be able to feed yourself. Thank you."
}