Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1476532,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1476532/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 83,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nairobi City County, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Esther Passaris",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Speaker, we looked at the tea industry and, as our Deputy Speaker rightly said, it is agriculture as a whole. We have come up with a Motion on sugarcane farming. It is such a shame that we have allowed this industry to be riddled with corruption. The big names that are responsible for bringing down factories like Mumias Sugar Factory are still walking freely. We have continued to bail it out over and over again but we have not got anywhere. A majority of the people who are licensed to import sugar, who are probably in Government, have continuously dumped cheap sugar from other countries. What we have to remember is that when we import any product that we can produce, we kill our local industry. We have been producing 600,000 metric tonnes of sugar but we have, over time, reduced it to 300,000 tonnes to create an artificial shortage so that certain individuals can be issued with permits to bring sugar from other countries. So, we continue to consume imported sugar. That is morally wrong. We have farmers, land and factories but we are killing our sugar industry to pave way for imports. What do we do when we become traders in an industry we are able to produce? We create jobs in the countries we import from as we kill jobs in our country. It is shameful that we can do such a thing. The people who wait for sugar shortage to be declared so that they can get licences to import sugar are killing jobs in our country. They are the reason we have reduced our sugar production from 600,000 metric tonnes to 300,000 metric tonnes. We need to boost our sugar production to its original level and subsequently increase it to a million metric tonnes. We need to have a vision. We also need to have ambition. We need to protect our sugar industry. When we create jobs in Kenya, we employ our citizens. I have tested sugar from other countries. Our sugar tastes better than sugar from other countries. Its sweetness is at the peak of all sugars. We have a lot that we can do. We can even produce our own ethanol but we do not have the will to do what is right for Kenya. I hope we can do the right thing for our sugar industry because we have done the wrong things for so many years. It starts with dealing with the corruption that brought down the sugar industry. If we do not deal with the corruption that brought down the sugar industry, we will not be able to forge ahead because our history determines our future. If we continue to let people get away with wrongdoing, we will always end up doing the wrong things. We make good policies, put in place structures and provide budgets but we continue to bail out industries that people have stolen from. We allow such people to go scot-free and hope that one day they will come back to lead this country. We are losing the plot that is imbedded in our National Anthem. The freedom fighters of this country wanted prosperity. They wanted peace in our land. We will not have peace when our land and our sugarcane growers are not able to profit from their hard work. We need to start thinking in terms of how we are going to produce adequate sugar. Let us not be quick to issue licences to people to import sugar to cater for artificial shortfalls. Let us give incentives to farmers to ensure that our sugar industry grows. Let us put the right structures in place. At least, one industry has to thrive. Unfortunately, it is like almost all the sectors of our economy have collapses. This collapse has been gradual, and it is growing. With the vision that the President has for this country, and with the help of the broad- based Government that is in place, I pray that we prove to the world that we can change the direction we are going. We have been moving backwards. Can we change that direction and move forward? Instead of going down, can we go up? As leaders, we owe it to our citizenry. Such effort should emanate from everywhere, and not just from Parliament. The Executive, too, has to pull with us. Parliament has to oversee the Executive and budgets have to be provided. The citizens have to pay taxes and the Judiciary has to allow us to work. We have become a country that is continuously stopped from moving forward through litigation. We need to somehow come together and decide what is good for Kenya, and what is good for Kenya is good for the citizens. I believe that sometimes we are pitted against each The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}