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{
    "id": 1462277,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1462277/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 125,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "In the last Parliament, I sat in this very House and we passed the Tea Bill. At first, I was a bit concerned that maybe we are redoing it again. However, I have just been informed that that the Tea Bill that we passed here did not pass in the National Assembly because the time of the election was nearby. It saddens me when I hear that we have tea, which is stored in Mombasa. I know very well that the demand for the Kenyan tea around the world is steadily increasing. I know very well that Pakistan leads in the import. It is actually very good for our foreign exchange earnings. They spend almost US$520 million importing tea from this country. I know very well that the UK also follows; they spend about US$111 million. Egypt spends about US$300 million importing tea. I am baffled because earlier this year, I saw the Deputy President launching a strategy for the tea sector and there were stories of a big warehouse costing over Kshs3 billion being built to store the tea. That shocked me because I have always known that although the auction for the tea industry is done in Mombasa, tea is not stored there. Tea was just going out of the country. So, it is imperative that the new Cabinet Secretary in charge of Agriculture should actually look at this issue. The Committee should look at what the previous Cabinet Secretary did. I remember the previous Cabinet Secretary, former Sen. Linturi, went to Pakistan and had bilateral talks with the Pakistan Government in terms of increasing the uptake of tea from this country. So what happened? So instead of just picking up from here and moving on, we should look at what happened so that it advises our future. When it comes to the issue of legislation, I hope that when we pass this Tea Bill this time around, it is not going to be reactionary and then next time again, because of certain specific interests, we now again come with other amendments. Let us now exhaust any form of amendments, so that we make laws that will stay and live in this world for the rest of God's creation. Secondly, on this issue of sports, I have listened keenly to the contribution made by my colleagues. The one that strikes me is the one that was brought about by Sen. Sifuna, where he is suggesting that each county should set aside 1 per cent. I believe if we really want to improve the sports sector in this country, this Senate should now bring in a Motion to set up a conditional grant. It becomes very difficult to go and tell the Governor of Nandi County or the MCAs of Nandi that, set aside 1 per cent of your budget to be used to improve on sport. The best thing we can do is just like we passed a Motion for the Sports Complex to be set up in Mombasa, we have conditional grants which are ring-fenced. Once we have done that, it is important for us to remind ourselves of our sovereign power instead of depending on the West so much for every decision we make. I was sitting in this House when we were looking at reports on FKA and Sen. Sifuna is right. At that time, it was very difficult for us to bring in any changes. So, once we have our own funds and we nurture our own talent, we can actually go very far. We have experts. In Narok County, we have Billy Konchella who set the world record in 800 metres. I think it was just broken recently by David Rudisha, who is also from Kilgoris. So, if we tap into the resource of these legends who have played and demonstrated to the world that, yes, in Kenya, we have great men and women who can run and show endurance, we can actually go very far."
}