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{
    "id": 201687,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/201687/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 147,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "content": "House of Commons in England met very quickly and enacted a law. They thought that the new vehicle, which was able to move faster than a horse-drawn carriage, was a very dangerous thing. So, they passed a law to the effect that the vehicle must be preceded by a human being with a bell, so as to warn people to get out of the way. That was because of the fear they had. They could not understand this machine, which could go faster than a horse-drawn carriage. That law was enacted because of human fear. The intention of this Bill is to provide a statutory framework for supervision of licensing to ensure that our people are safe. In the absence of the law, in fact, we expose our people to danger. What are we subjecting the foodstuffs that we import to, in terms of tests, to know how they have October 3, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 4333 been grown? So, it is time we joined the rest of the world in having this statute in place to enable our scientists monitor, regulate, license, give advice and so on and so forth. We have got brilliant scientists. Do you know the first person who pioneered tissue culture for bananas and trees? She was a Kenyan lady. She was plucked from here and taken to the United States of America (USA). It is the USA which has benefitted from her knowledge. From there, she was taken to South Africa. Today, we import electricity poles from South Africa. Because of that technology, they are able to grow those trees. We need them, and we are now importing them from there. So, other nations are benefiting from the brains of our Kenyan scientists, because we are not giving them the space they need. Do you know that the scientist who developed Ruiru 11 coffee variety? He went to a certain country, where he was given a free hand and managed to develop a new generation of Ruiru 11, which is why now Kenyan coffee is not able to compete favourably. One tree of the new generation Ruiru 11 is able to produce ten times the amount of coffee beans the Kenyan single tree is producing, without any chemicals. That has been possible through scientific research. So, let us embrace this statute without fear. Let us allow our scientists to go. We must be able to feed our people. It is an embarrassment. Kenya is supposed to be an agricultural country, but is there any year when we do not import food? How do we then describe ourselves as an agricultural country? If more than 3 per cent of the country's population is engaged in agriculture, you are not efficient. In countries like Japan, less than 1 per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture. If more than 3 per cent of a nation's population is engaged in agriculture, you are not efficient. Let us look at ourselves. More than 90 per cent of our people are employed in agriculture and yet we cannot feed ourselves. It is science which is going to enable us feed ourselves in a safe manner. Let us not confuse research with all the fear that sometimes one hears being expressed. In fact, do you know that if you do not make inquiries and go to the ordinary nyama choma joints, you will see very good- looking sukumawiki ? Do you know how it is grown? It is grown using raw sewerage. That"
}