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{
    "id": 159791,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/159791/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 582,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ms. Chepchumba",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 12,
        "legal_name": "Peris Chepchumba",
        "slug": "peris-chepchumba"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance to support the Motion. I am one of the legislators who feel that they should go back to their constituents, but many questions keep striking my mind. I still have Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who need to be settled. But the question they ask is why they are in the camps. You will realise that this is a planting season; they are farmers and they also need to contribute something through farming. They want to have income to educate their children. I feel that the Government should seriously look at the issue of IDPs and resettle them. I still have IDPs at the Eldoret Showground. You will realise that the ASK organises occasions where farmers can be educated. But how can farmers be educated if they cannot attend an ASK show for the second time in Eldoret? We need to have resettlement of the IDPs, so as to create room for the ASK show, where farmers can be educated. You will realise that this is one of the reasons why we have a food crisis. This is a very serious issue. People require food on their tables. When I go back to my constituency--- I know that it is a very high potential area, but why has the Government not prioritised funding of this sector? The question I always ponder over is why the Government cannot put money in productive areas like Uasin Gishu? Where I come from is a very productive area. We can feed the whole of this country if we put in more money, and support farmers in the North Rift and other productive areas. Why can the Government not put in more resources to support farmers? Farmers have been taking to the streets demanding better prices for their produce. They sometimes do not even have money to buy fertilizers or other inputs. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a serious issue, and the Government should look at the issue of farmers, because they feed the nation. I do not see why we should import food, yet we have farmers who can still produce the same food we are importing. The Government should look at prioritising. It should direct more funding to this sector. It should look at the areas that are productive and produce food for the hungry Kenyans. I feel hurt when I know there are Kenyans without food and they ask themselves why they do not have food. We also have farmers asking the same Government why they cannot be supported with subsidies to make inputs affordable. If the Government is serious, why can it not, at least, provide even free fertilisers to those farmers? Why should they buy inputs at high prices? Is the Government serious? As a legislator from that area, I feel that if we prioritise the issues in this country, we will have a better country. I think we have people who can make this country better."
}