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{
    "id": 215567,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/215567/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 270,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Muiruri",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Agriculture",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 238,
        "legal_name": "Patrick Kariuki Muiruri",
        "slug": "patrick-muiruri"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to refer to the background of the Kenya Tea Development Authority. The Kenya Tea Development Authority was established under a statutory legislation on 20th January, 1964, under Legal Notice No. 42, Section 190 of the Agriculture Act, CAP.318 of the Laws of Kenya. The enactment charged the KTDA with statutory responsibilities of promoting and fostering the development of small-scale tea growers within specifically scheduled tea growing areas. The subsidiary legislation empowered KTDA to assist small-scale tea farmers in expanding their holdings through the following goals and objectives:- (i) To manage tea extension programmes with the aim of improving the level of management of crop husbandry, (ii) To develop and maintain a tea in-feeding programme to cover vacancies within farms, (iii) Increase the area under tea by recruiting more farmers, (iv) Providing tea planting materials, to collect, purchase and handle green tea, to process the tea leaf, manufacture tea, market the manufactured tea and pay the growers after statutory reductions; and (v) Lastly, to develop sound technical financial and management infrastructure. However, the change from public to private entity was rushed and there was no transition period to put the necessary structures in place for proper functioning of the institution. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, trouble started from there. When the KTDA was done 2224 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 4, 2007 away with by a Kenya Gazette Notice by the then Minister for Agriculture, paving way for a limited company, the Government totally lost control of the industry. That is what hon. Members are complaining about. Since then, many things have gone wrong. One, farmers under KTDA were able to get 100 per cent loan facilities, guaranteed by the Government. The repayment was ten years, plus two years grace period. After the KTDA Limited was formed, the period has now been reduced to five to six years. The farmer is now required to raise an equity of over 50 per cent. The short term time period to the farmers has been affected and the concessioning of their factories is too low. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you have heard in this House that there are a lot of things that are not going well within the KTDA. We, in the Ministry, have problems with them because they say they are a limited liability company, and yet the tea farmers are quite a number. They are many and this cannot be allowed to go on. When you leave it to them, it cannot work. There is need, therefore, for the Government to be closer and pay more attention to the operations of the KTDA with a view to addressing how best to assist small-scale holders at this particular time. Direct interventions will only be possible if the current legislation is changed. This is basically what we are saying. Since the KTDA Limited was formed by that Legal Notice, Mr. Angwenyi is asking that the status quo remains. That is, we go back to the KTDA where the Government has some control and will guarantee loans at softer and manageable conditions. The construction of the factories will also be supervised, and we will have some members appointed to the board, because as of now there is nothing of that sort. We cannot, as a Government, let the KTDA remain as it is! We have no control over it and farmers are complaining all over the country. There are also a lot of losses in the tea industry, and the amount of money that the farmer is supposed to be making is getting lower and lower. There are some other loans that have been guaranteed by the KTDA from various banks overseas and locally. You saw it here the other day, that we were not even able to answer a Question on a tender procurement. They do not even go for open tender; they go for quotations. You will find that one of the lowest bidders, Visram of India had quoted Kshs6.6 million, but they went ahead to award the same tender to a different company at Kshs7.2 million. We later discovered that it was Kshs7.2 million but over Kshs10 million. So, we, as the Ministry, are happy with this Motion. It is welcome and we will do something to ensure that the tea farmers countrywide, who contribute over 60 per cent of the tea production in this country, are well protected. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}