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{
    "id": 1569867,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1569867/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 79,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "In the fiscal year that you are referring to, Financial Year 2023-2024, you have quoted in your response, there was provision of processing equipment to tea cooperatives. It is now in this financial year that there is an attempt to allocate Kshs3.5 billion to support aging tea factories. I am not even sure whether the National Assembly Committee on Finance and Budget will maintain it. So, I will have to refer to the records and the people in the Ministry whether any of this has been done. To the best of my knowledge, there is no tea cooperative that was supported with this. With regards to establishment of this, what he is calling tea value addition hub, construction is yet to begin of the common user facility that the Government promised tea farmers in the country. Therefore, it will be important for the Cabinet Secretary to let us know when the construction of this common user facility will commence. There was a promise of a billion shillings to KTDA through its subsidiary KETEPA that this facility was to be set up in Kericho. I do not know to this date when that facility will be available. The same can be said about part (c) of the question, because it needs to be quantifiable. If the Cabinet Secretary had given us the specific figure of how much that export market development the Government committed to, we would appreciate, because it is one of the interventions that we seriously need. Lastly, just a comment to the Cabinet Secretary because you know we are representatives of people. When there is an opportunity. I appreciate that transportation of tea to factories is Value Added Tax (VAT) exempted. I do not understand why in every Finance Bill, it is usually removed. Last year, it had to be removed. In this year's proposal, transportation of sugarcane to factories is subject to VAT. I do not know why the National Treasury wants to treat tea and sugarcane farmers separately, yet they are all citizens of this Republic. While I appreciate what is done for tea farmers, I would wish that the National Treasury does the same for sugarcane farmers. I thank you."
}