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{
    "id": 212887,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/212887/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 211,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Kibunguchy",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Health",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 294,
        "legal_name": "Enoch Wamalwa Kibunguchy",
        "slug": "enoch-kibunguchy"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I reply, I would like to thank all those who have contributed to this Bill. As has been pointed out, we had exhaustively discussed this Bill in the last session and the enthusiasm then was very evident. I want to welcome the comments that have been made about this Bill. I want to say that we will take all those comments when we come to the Committee of the Whole House and see how we can turn a good Bill into an even better one. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me just comment on one or two things that were raised. One is that this Bill is a result of very intense consensus. We have held discussions with the industry and stakeholders. So, we have come up with a Bill that we think will be able to overcome some of the small bottle-necks that we are seeing being experienced by the councils and municipalities in the country like Nakuru, Mombasa and Nairobi. They have tried to put forth the by-laws that people should not smoke in the public. We have seen certain bottle-necks cropping up. Those are very well addressed in this Bill. This Bill gives a period within which certain things will be put in place. There is a very clear transition period of nine months. Within this period, we expect that people in the hotel industry will put forth areas for smokers and separate them from non-smokers. We will expect that within those nine months, the tobacco industry will have enough time to label the packets very clearly with the signs as we have pointed out. Once we pass this Bill, we shall bring order into this sector. Secondly, I would like to say that we are not banning smoking, as some people might suspect. This Bill is very clear. What we are doing according to the two fundamental issues in this Bill is to make sure that non-smokers are protected from second-hand smoke. The second thing that we are doing is to make sure that we do not introduce smoking to the young ones in our midst. Those are the two fundamental issues that are contained in this Bill. 2670 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 19, 2007 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, questions were raised about the issue of packets that are being exported. We have said in this Bill that we will have very clear signs that the cigarettes are manufactured in Kenya for export only. I know some hon. Members raised this issue. I want to say that we have discussed this issue with the stakeholders and we think that it is very important that it remains in because it takes care of the illicit trade. The issue of sponsorship was raised. It is sometimes not easy to differentiate sponsorship from advertisement. If we are going to - and we are saying that we are banning the advertisement of tobacco and tobacco products completely - introduce sponsorship, it will be introducing advertisement through the back-door. It was also stated that it becomes very difficult and, I agree, to enforce this law when you say that some areas which cigarette smoking should not take place are the residential areas. But we are saying that, this will protect our children and the people who work for us in the home. As I said, this is a product of consensus. I am sure that when we come to the Committee of the Whole House, we shall deal with a few amendments, so that we can make this Bill even better. With those few remarks, I beg to move."
}