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{
"id": 1502189,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1502189/?format=api",
"text_counter": 106,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": "should be doing and must do about abductions. Abductions are not necessarily from Government agencies. We have seen, and I spoke here last week about the example of the criminal element arrested by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) - and I thank them for the swift action - where young women were abducted from Eastleigh, tortured and murdered. The same character then abducted and killed another lady in Kilimani. I have heard even some of us out there speak about these things. We are very quick to condemn but slow to thank DCI when they act swiftly to ensure that criminals who either maim, hurt, or even murder ―whether it is the killing of women or other people, including men ― are arrested. When DCI officers apprehend these criminals, we must thank them. However, we must also condemn any manner of abduction, and all Government agencies must act in accordance with our Constitution and statutes and ensure that we are all safe. I am glad that the President spoke at length on these issues. In the agricultural sector, the backbone of our economy, inflation has dropped from 9.6 per cent to 2.7 per cent, the first in 17 years, because it was only before the post-election violence in 2005 to 2007 that we had this kind of inflation. We would not have been able to achieve this had this administration not been deliberate in the massive investment that it hase put in, and the President has been speaking about it on subsidised fertiliser. It is out of this subsidised fertiliser that we said we shall no longer subsidise consumption but production, and the results are there to be seen. We are not just talking about low inflation at 2.7 per cent, down from 9.6 per cent, but also about increased production that is bringing down the cost of food prices, and therefore, bringing the inflation rate down. I listened to the President speak about the sugar industry last week, saying that 17 sugar factories in this country are up and running for the first time. Four new factories are under construction, not just to process sugar because the sugarcane is there but also because we have encouraged our farmers to get back to sugarcane production. Hon. Wangwe, the sponsor of the Sugar Bill, will tell you that some years back, farmers in Western Kenya and the sugar belt areas of our country were moving away from sugarcane to other food crops because they were frustrated. Today, sugar farmers are returning to sugarcane farming because it is now paying, and we can now produce adequate sugar for our country. More importantly, we are now not only producing sugar as a raw material for those 17 Class IV factories but also creating employment not just for farmers in the production cycle but also in the manufacturing cycle. Factories are now roaring back to life, providing millions of young people with job opportunities. We are also saving on our foreign exchange. Only last year, we imported hundreds of thousands of metric tonnes of sugar into this country, exporting our dollars to other countries like Mexico and Brazil. However, for the first time this year, we are not importing even a kilogramme of sugar. These are things that we must shout about and be proud of, that when we spoke about the import substitution policy, people thought it was just stories we were talking about. It is now a reality that we are not importing sugar. If anything, we can now export sugar to Sudan. I know people who are now trying to export our sugar to Sudan. However, we must also caution the Ministry concerned to ensure we do not export all our sugar and are left without enough for our local consumption. We must be proud that it is not just sugarcane but also maize. Only a year ago, we had to import maize, but we now do not have to import a single grain of it. We have enough being produced. In fact, the fallacy is that now the farmers say that the prices have gone too low at the expense of consumers, who would be complaining if the prices were high. We now have adequate food and ensure food security in our country; food prices and inflation are down, and the shilling is strong. Our nation's economy is getting stronger by the day. In conclusion, I have heard many people admonish Members of Parliament because they gave a standing ovation to the President when he directed the termination of the Adani contracts. In fact, I took time to go"
}