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"speaker_name": "Eng. Maina",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Motion:- THAT, in view of the escalation of prices of essential food commodities such as maize floor, sugar, rice, cooking fat, milk, et cetera ; considering the high poverty level of most Kenyans, further considering that to most Kenyans, three meals a day is a luxury; cognizant that the recent scrapping of VAT on basic commodities by the Minister for Finance is a temporary measure; this House urges the Government to urgently step in and regulate the prices of these commodities in order to save the common mwananchi from unscrupulous traders. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, our country right now is in a very trying and dangerous position. The trend of food prices in this country is not sustainable any more. Unless we put measures in place, we are going to endanger this country. We are aware of what food prices in the world have forced people to do. We have had riots in Egypt and the Government there moved in and put in place measures, which to this day, ensure ordinary Egyptians can have a meal. We have had riots in Bangladesh. It is a serious matter and their country's greatest threat is lack of food. I said that the other day. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, even when prices of commodities go down in the world market on things like fuel, this country never witnesses any benefit. The country is being strained day after day. Today, the ordinary mwananchi earns Kshs100 per day in this country. In a week, if he has to go and pray to the Almighty God on Sunday or whichever day, he ends up with Kshs2,400. That will only be enough for him to buy a maize meal for his family for only 24 days. What does he do for the other six days? We are aware that Kenya is not the first country to face this situation. My Motion seeks to actually ask the Government to act. The Government has acted, as I have stated in the Motion. Recently, it scrapped the Value Added Tax (VAT) on imported wheat and maize. However, prices have continued to go up. So, the action by the Government does not seem to strike the cause of this problem. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to draw the attention of this House to an incident that occurred in America, before I cite an incident in this country. In 1933 America was in recession and there were so many crimes that cost them at night. There had to be courts at night to try people, because of the many petty crimes. A man who was arrested for stealing a loaf of bread went to court and the judge there did an honourable thing. He fined him a dollar and, consequently, everybody in that court room 10 cents. There was enough money for that man to buy a loaf of bread and end up with some money. That was a judge who was taking care of the citizens of America. That is what my Motion intends to do today. December 03, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3817 We had people in this country going to the extent--- Because of lack of food, insecurity is very high. Some people have resorted to eating even poisonous food. So, we cannot continue the way we are. Recently, on top of scrapping VAT on some commodities including imported wheat and maize, the Government has come up with a policy, which I want to say is not going to work. They even said that it will be implemented after ten days. How do you expect ordinary Kenyans to survive for those ten days? It is not going to work. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, looking at the trend in this country, the prices have been rising exponentially. For example, unga was costing Kshs48 in December, 2007. By July, 2008, it went to Kshs75. Today, it is over Kshs100. There is no justification for this. The Government and country cannot sit back and allow this trend to continue. I beg everyone to take this matter very seriously. The security of the country cannot be guaranteed with this trend. We are even facing another phenomenon right now. This House has been demonized regarding how we are earning impossible salaries. This message is being given to Kenyans who cannot feed themselves. It is high time the Government moved and did something. That something is what I am asking for. A country cannot leave security and the major national instruments like provision of food to anybody else than itself. But in this country, we have a situation where things can move unchecked, and finally, we are where we are. That is the purpose of my Motion. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, a person who earns Kshs100 a day, cannot feed himself for a whole month. I have indicated that he has no other way of survival. So, we have created a situation whereby we are opening this country for people either to steal or be ready to kill. Before I come to the control of food prices, this Government needs to relook into its policies. When there is a food crisis, we wake up as if we did not know that it existed and import foodstuffs worth Kshs10 billion. People make billions of shillings out of that situation. Why could the Kshs10 billion not have been used in the previous year to provide farmers with fertilizer and proper seed? Malawi is a much smaller country than Kenya. Today, we are importing maize from Malawi. This is because some years back, Malawi took a bold step and provided her farmers with fertilizer and seed. Malawi is regarded as a poor country. It is smaller than Kenya. However, today, we are importing maize from her. I want to ask the Government to wake up, take courage and save this country from the critical situation that we are in. We have no excuse at all to be in the position we are in today. We have left agriculture to the weakest group of people in this land. It has been left to the citizens of this country, who do not have the strength to save the country from the situation it is in. It is high time that we revived the agricultural sector. During the colonial days, Kenya was surviving on agriculture. We should go back to those days. It does not take nuclear physics to understand this. It will take courage, common sense and love for our country. We have neglected our farmers. Nobody who has the resources or education, is ready to go into agriculture because it is a loss-making business. The reason essential commodities are scarce is because we have neglected the agricultural sector. The production is not guaranteed and it is unprofitable. The managers of this sector, whether in the importation of fuel or in milling, are people who are ready to take a flight out of this country when there is a riot out there. We need to put such sectors in the hands of people who are ready to be in this country and who believe in its destiny. The Government needs to put the resources of this country where they matter most. The other day, the Biosafety Bill was before the House. It is high time our research was geared towards food production. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am mourning. I gave notice of this Motion over a month ago and I did not know that Kenya would be where it is today. We have suggested different prices of maize flour for different groups of people. This is another half measure in dealing with the problem. When we talk about price controls, we should have serious policies in terms of production, management and monitoring. We should be able to move in when need be and not to 3818 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES December 03, 2008 wake up one morning because Kenyans are carrying placards in the streets and say that some people will be buying a packet of maize meal at Kshs50 and others are Kshs70. We want to have affordable maize meal for everybody. This is casting further suspicions to our people as to where the maize meal that is worth Kshs50 per 2-kilogramme packet is coming from and of what standard it is against the one that is worth Kshs70 per 2-kilogramme packet. This matter touches on the food security of our country. Kenya can develop and it will develop, when we will have the courage to make decisions irrespective of others in the world. I have just quoted Malawi. It took Malawi a lot of courage to tell somebody from somewhere that the issue of a free market economy does not arise. It took Malawi, a very poor country, courage to tell somebody: \"Thank you very much, I have heard you, but I am going to subsidize agriculture\". It took Egypt courage to tell somebody that: \"Thank you very much, the price of a loaf of bread will never rise beyond a certain price\". These countries are now on their way forward. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the prices of petroleum products, for example, kerosene and diesel, hinders development. When the price of crude oil per barrel has been falling in the world market, fuel prices in Kenya remain high. It took the Government's threat to regulate the fuel prices for them to come down. So, it is obvious that the Government should move in. Otherwise, we are straining the citizens of this country from every angle. I beseech that that this House takes this matter seriously. We are being demonised out there regarding the high salaries that we earn. We stand a chance if people are fed, but we do not stand a chance if they are not fed. I want to focus on the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water and Irrigation. These Ministries should sit down together and come up with policies on the provision of water and the necessary inputs to the citizens of this country, so that Kenya can become self-sufficient in food production. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like this Government to relook into the issue that, recently, brought about the escalation of food prices. We cannot say that we are not going to act when the matter we are dealing with needs action today. We have known this country to previously have regulations by the Government. With those remarks, I beg to move and call upon Mr. Mututho to second this Motion."
}