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{
    "id": 1490595,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1490595/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 89,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Oketch Gicheru",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute on this report of the Mediation Committee on the Sugar Bill (National Assembly Bills No.34 of 2024). Yesterday, I raised an issue of quorum to ensure that as many Senators as possible can contribute to this Motion today. I think this is the most important Bill you can support this year. I presume that in every home, there is a cup of tea waiting for people in the morning or evening. Whether you take tea with milk, like my friend Sen. Olekina who cannot do his tea without milk, or whether you like strong tea, like my friend Sen. Cheruiyot, who is trying to keep up a good weight so that he plays for us during the East African Community (EAC) Inter-Parliamentary Games (IPG), it does not matter. At the end of the day, you want to have some sugar in it. The development of the sugarcane industry is very important. The reason I support this report in the form it is in right now is because there are a number of clauses that have really impressed me in the different sections of this mediated version of the Bill. This is particularly because for the first time, we are seeing a Bill on the sugarcane industry that is farmer-centric. It seeks to solve as many problems for the farmer as possible. The first thought I had today was to celebrate the Bill in general with my friend, Martin Dima. Martin Dima is the current Managing Director of South Nyanza Sugar Company Limited, which is a signature industry in that part of the region where I come from. South Nyanza Sugar Company Limited is one of the iconic sugar industries and millers that have given a lot of hope to our people in Migori County and in the larger Southern Nyanza region. I think this will also be celebrated by Jared K’opiyo, the Chairperson of the same industry, given the challenges that farmers in Migori County have faced. I must also pride in the fact that Clauses 3 and 4 of this Bill seek to rethink the entire Kenya Sugar Board (KSB). Perhaps I should also share with you that one of the longest-serving KSB directors who used to represent farmers before rising quickly to be a chairman of the Board was the former Governor of Migori County, Hon. Okoth Obado. He worked hard during his time at the KSB to establish private millers, particularly in Homa Bay. That is Ndhiwa, Sukari Industry Limited, as well as in the Transmara region. The reason I celebrate this section of the Bill is because by rethinking the KSB, there is a keen and deliberate effort by the two committees, that is the Senate and the National Assembly one, to try and make the sugar industry commercially viable. 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."
}