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{
    "id": 1490589,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1490589/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 83,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13599,
        "legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
        "slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
    },
    "content": "Honestly, I have to express my disappointment with the Mediation Committee. I am in the unique position where I am the Senator of the City of Nairobi, but also a sugarcane farmer. That unique position allows me to have perspective of the various interests that we were trying to protect, unlike my colleagues from upcountry, whose perspective was limited, in my view. I very respectfully submit to the perspective of the farmer and the local sugar industries. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I took time to have a meeting with the Mediation Committee, at least our representatives from the Senate. The Members of this Mediation Committee are personally known to me. I consider them my friends. Hon. Peter Massara who will be hosting me as his Secretary General (SG) in his constituency on Saturday. We also have Sen. Richard Onyonka and hon. Walter Owino, Member of Parliament (MP) for Awendo is a personal friend and of course, my mother's MP, Hon. John Makali, MP for Kanduyi constituency. I have even more friends in this Committee, including the MP for Lugari, Hon. Nabii Nabwera, who I know is very passionate about these things. What I try to persuade them to see is that there has to be a distinction in the way in which we treat regular imported table sugar and imported industrial sugar. When we are talking about protecting our farmers, the threat does not originate from industrial sugar. In fact, it is foolhardy to say that you are protecting local industries when you apply this levy to industrial sugar knowing very well that in Kenya today, there is no single industry that produces white industrial sugar. I was hoping that a distinction would be made, because as a Senator for Nairobi, the industries that we are talking about account for 60 percent of all employment of the people of Nairobi. These are big stakeholders for city Senators such as myself. If there is no local production of a commodity, you cannot claim to protect local industry when that local industry does not exist. In fact, I pleaded with the Mediation Committee that they even allow a time frame. It can be a sunset clause that immediately the country is able to produce or have capacity to produce white industrial sugar, then maybe we can introduce this levy. The reason I was seeking that exemption on this white industrial sugar is that it is used in about everything that we consume here in Nairobi and across the country. It is used in baked goods, confectionaries like sweets, juices, sodas and beer. Over the period of time that we have seen, although the Senator for Nandi was pleading that the industry should not pass this cost, I can assure you that no manufacturer will take this cost upon themselves. You will see a rise in the cost of these basic commodities. I thought we would try and cushion Kenyans, especially because we are still discussing the high cost of living. There has to be that balance. When I appeared before the members of the Senate who are members of this Committee, I thought I had provided the justification that we needed that exemption to protect industry. Looking at both the manifestos of the Azimio coalition and of the Kenya Kwanza Government, we leaned heavily on industrialisation. I am aware that it is the desire of both of these coalitions to put in place policies that encourage investment. Mr. Speaker, Sir, over the period of time that I have been a Senator here, for the past two financial years, because of multiple increase in taxation, in many of these factories, their sales have dropped because of incessant increases of prices due to new The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}