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{
    "id": 1565396,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565396/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 81,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "was to buy coffee, I should go to the broker, bid my price and buy coffee and if I wish, add value. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in Narok County, we are now growing coffee in Kilgoris, Narok South and part of Emurua Dikkir. It is imperative that we encourage our population to venture into the agricultural sector and grow. However, if one has to use a broker to be able to sell, you are going back to the colonial era when the crops in our country were defined by the cash crops economy. In fact, at that particular time, we were only growing goods to feed the British in the United Kingdom (UK) and the West. The definition of who a buyer should be completely rejected. I wish that the Committee would have said we delete this. I have gone through the report and I must say that the Committee has done a fantastic job. Let me thank the Chairperson on the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. However, I wish that the Chairperson would have gone on and said- “The Committee rejected this amendment and suggested the following---”, so that it guides us. This way, even when we select a team to go through mediation, they can go and say, this is the language to be used. I wish they would have said, “In terms of the buyer, delete that. Let everybody be able to buy.” The second part, which I also detest is where a buyer is defined. Even a grower should be defined. So, before I grow coffee, I have to go and say, “Which plant can I grow here?” I strongly believe that we should have that completely deleted. I noted that the Committee had accepted that amendment to the clause. However, I am of the view that every Kenyan who has an interest should be allowed to. We are training students. I am currently recruiting 100 students of Narok County to offer scholarships and train them in agribusiness. I do not want to guide those students and tell them that they can only plant this tree. So, certain definitions need to be removed. Mr. Speaker, Sir, without wasting so much time, I wish to request my colleagues to go through these amendments one by one. When we go through the Committee of the Whole, by just rejecting it does not help. We should be able to figure out. We can work with the Secretariat on how we can also further amend those clauses. Then when we shall go to the mediation, there is a version that will be coming from the Senate. However, if we are just saying that we have rejected because of the following reason, and not giving an alternative, that is what will lead to the mediation Committee taking more than the 70 days that the Senate Majority Leader has alluded to. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I equally oppose these amendments and root for liberalization of the coffee industry. Let everyone grow. I have seen that in reference to marketing you also have to be licensed. Does this mean that if I travel to the United States of America (USA), sit with Starbucks, and they tell me that they want to buy coffee in Kenya, I cannot market coffee there as a Kenyan? That, I have to look for a licensed marketer? This should be a willing buyer, willing seller. Let us liberalize this economy and allow more people to grow coffee as they wish. We must divorce ourselves from this colonial mentality of defining our agricultural sector as a cash crop and other crops. We are still following through. Hii maneno ya nyayo --- I am sorry. We need to stop it. We need to say if you can grow coffee in Narok County, do so. If you can even add value and consume it locally, so be it. However, if you can grow and sell abroad, then it would make sense to go through the brokerage so that you earn more money. 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."
}