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{
    "id": 1501922,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1501922/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 124,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Oketch Gicheru",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "the Government of the day continues to lose from the people should corrected for once and for all? The same applies to the issue of femicide. These are largely the issues of human rights violations that we have seen in the country. We were talking with the Senate Majority Leader today. One of the issues that bothered our heads was that of the opposition leader of Uganda Dr. Besigye who was arrested within our borders and driven by road to Malaba Border. We asked ourselves in which country we are, where somebody such as Dr. Besigye can be arrested that way. These are continued incidences of violation of human rights. If they will not be responded to with the magnitude that is needed from the Government, then there is erosion of requirements of Article 73 of the Constitution, that public trust is given to the President as well as to us the elected leaders. Our responsibility that needs to be done according to public trust gets eroded. This is the biggest problem that this administration must deal with. I am trying to rush because I only have about four or five minutes. I think I was impressed by the idea that the President talked about the impact on the cost of farming because of the subsidies that were put in place. However, I have a problem because we do not see the corresponding change in prices that can help farmers. For instance, if you go to Eldoret and the larger Uasin Gishu today, farmers have a bumper harvest of maize, but the prices for those commodities are not commensurate with what they want to see from their farm inputs. While I agree that there has been a bumper harvest in several places, there is still no proper correspondence of that bumper harvest with regards to price stabilities on both imported and exported goods in the economy. We also see it reflecting on what I would call the Central Bank rate that was reviewed to 12 per cent in October. However, banks’ lending does not correspond to this. Therefore it shows that the monetary policy of this country has not responded to what the President is talking about on the stability of our finances and prices in the country. So there is a lot to be desired from that. Lastly, I want to talk very strongly about other forms of farming that I do not think the President, in his Address indicated what will be the proper response in terms of policy going forward. The President talked about the impact we have had in the sugarcane, maize and rice industries. However, what happens to somebody such as Sen. Seki who comes from a pastoralist community where the livestock is not subsidized? There is no proper investment in subsidies on livestock in Narok, Kajiado, and other pastoralist communities that are also part of production units in the economy. What happens to somebody such as Sen. M. Kajwang’? I saw him here. I think maybe he is in the Senator’s Lounge. He comes from a place where people are rearing fish in cages, in ponds, and they also have to go and fish deep in the lake. What happens to those production units that are not necessarily the tillage of land? I think that there needs to be an investment of subsidies that goes to those different modes of production as well, to supplement and as well as complement the bumper harvest that we are seeing. You cannot empower one area and leave other areas of production. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, on average, it was a good Address, but there are still gaps that leave a lot to be desired in the area of transparency between the Government 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."
}