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"id": 176998,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/176998/?format=api",
"text_counter": 174,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Githae",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government",
"speaker": {
"id": 159,
"legal_name": "Robinson Njeru Githae",
"slug": "robinson-githae"
},
"content": ". For the particular political party, that promise worked. Now that, that promise was given, it should be fulfilled. Members of the pastoral communities need insurance for their cattle. This was promised, and it should be given. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another great mistake that the Ministry made was to privatise cattle dips. They have all collapsed. I do not know whether there is any that still exists. The chemicals used in cattle dipping are too expensive for farmers. When you charge them, like in my constituency, Kshs100 for a single dip per animal, how many farmers can afford to pay? So, what happens? Even some communities which were managing their own cattle dips were not replenishing the chemicals. So, it was a waste of time and money. So, the Ministry must take over the management of cattle dips. It must provide free chemicals, water, attendants and water pumps for replenishing the water. If we do not do, this Sessional Paper will remain just that - just a Paper! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, abattoirs should be constructed where the product is. Why construct abattoirs in Athi River and Mombasa? There were Kenya Meat Commission abattoirs in Athi River and Mombasa. Are there cows in Mombasa town? Maybe, there are some cows in Athi River. Abattoirs should be constructed where the cows are. The cost of transporting cows from, say, Mandera to Dagoretti is huge. In the process of transportation, cows suffer. It is actually inhumane. They also lose weight. So, the person who will suffer is the livestock farmer. The other issue I want to talk about is vaccination. I happen to have a few cows. I was very pleased when the Minister announced that they were going to conduct a free vaccination exercise, only for my workman to call and tell me that they were being charged Kshs30 per cow. So, what kind of free vaccination was that? Vaccination must be free, timely and regular. The Ministry should not wait until diseases break out and farmers lose their livestock for it to embark on an emergency vaccination programme. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for this Sessional Paper to be useful to this country, Kenya must be declared a disease-free zone. If we do not export our beef to the European Union countries and the Middle East, it will be a problem. Luckily, Mauritius wants to buy our live cattle, and not meat as they used to do. Cattle rustling must be brought to an end. The kind of cattle rustling that we now see is not the old cattle rustling. It is now commercialised cattle rustling. That is where the problem is. Previously, there were no killings in cattle rustling exercise. Nowadays, when raiders go to steal cattle, they kill even women and children, which is an abomination in all communities. What we have today is commercial cattle rustling. There are people whose business is to steal cattle and bring them to Dagoretti for slaughter. This must be brought to an end. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for this Sessional Paper to be useful, good roads must be constructed in ASAL areas. If not tarmacked roads, at least, there should be all-weather roads, December 3, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3847 so that livestock farmers can transport livestock products to where the market is. In this connection, I would like to appeal to the Government to implement the programme of creating a second sea Port at Lamu. According to that programme, there is supposed to be a railway line linking Lamu, Garissa, Mandera and Wajir in Kenya, which will extend to serve Ethiopia, Southern Sudan and Uganda. There is also supposed to be a road constructed parallel to the railway line. If that were to happen, the issue of the fights we have over small pieces of land in the Rift Valley Province should come to an end, because there will be so much business in those areas that people will no longer need to fight over quarter-acre pieces of land. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we must treat livestock as business. The Ministry of Agriculture is coming up with a programme they are calling \" Kilimo Biashara \". This programme must also be extended to the livestock sector. Livestock is business. It is not a pastime, as the Ministry seems to have believed all along. Therefore, it must be treated as business. Livestock owners must be granted loans, if they are to realise their livelihood. Another important thing which must be addressed is setting aside of livestock holding grounds. Every town used to have a market day for livestock, but this tradition has disappeared. Why? It is because there are no livestock holding grounds. The Ministry must repossess all the livestock holding grounds that were grabbed, starting with the one at Athi River. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Livestock Development must set aside money for development of water points. It must not rely on the Ministry of Water and Irrigation. It must put up dams for the cattle to water, if this Sessional Paper is going to be useful. We must then address the issue of value addition to our livestock products. It is only in this country where people only use meat. The skins and hides market seems to have collapsed. There are so many products which are made from livestock hooves and bones. I am told that you can even make fertilizer from livestock bones and hooves. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we must also find a way of bringing down the cost of meat. Currently, a kilogramme of meat is sold at over Kshs240. How many Kenyans can afford to buy a kilogramme of meat every day? So, because of the high cost of meat, Kenyans have now resorted to eating matumbo, which is now very popular. Even international hotels now serve meat derived from livestock hooves, tongues and head, because the cost of steak is very high. We must find ways of bringing down the cost of meat. It is not only the rich who should be enjoying nyama choma . Even the poor in society must enjoy"
}