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"id": 219779,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Sambu",
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"legal_name": "Alfred B. Wekesa Sambu",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I want to support this Motion by the honourable Jimmy Angwenyi. While we want to expand our economy to increase the number of jobs available to our people; our young people, our farmers in the rural sector, yet we put constraints on a crop like tea, which is labour-intensive. I think it is a situation that needs quick correction and quick action. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we changed the KTDA Act which--- Because, previously, the Kenya Tea Development was an authority, we brought that Bill here. We amended it from an authority to an agency. But we did make a big mistake because we still allowed KTDA. The KTDA Act should have been repealed completely. Because whereas KTDA, even as it is now as an agency, controls the functioning of the factories which process tea from small-scale farmers, yet no one controls the large tea estates. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, what will stop us, for example in Mosop, where we grow and thank God because our farms are not too small-- What will control, say five or ten farmers, each with about five, six or ten acres of tea, coming together and registering themselves as a company, so that they can by-pass this Act and establish their own factory? Tea is a labour- 1538 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES May 23, 2007 intensive crop from the planting of it, crop husbandry of it, the harvesting of it and even processing. I think in the world, the Kenya tea has a good market. It is even used for blending other teas from other countries. We should encourage farmers to manage and run their own factories devoid of KTDA interfering. This is because KTDA hires unnecessary directors who make the running of factories more expensive. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in the whole of Nandi District, there is only KTDA factory at Chebus. Its capacity is not enough for all the tea delivered by farmers. In fact, farmers in Mosop no longer deliver tea to that factory. We should not allow KTDA to control the functions of tea processing in the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, tea should be processed to a complete-made tea stage. It should be packaged and sold directly in the market. Consumers can then buy it on retail and wholesale basis. By doing so, a lot of value will have been added to the tea. Currently, tea is sold wholesale in auction in Mombasa. Since it is sold on a large scale, farmers and factories do not make much money from it. The people who taste the tea at the Mombasa Auction are very discriminatory. I would rather that factories are allowed to process their tea up to the stage that it is ready for packaging and selling in whatever packet they want. They can also brand it. They can have their own brand names. It will improve the value of the tea. However, at the moment, tea from all factories is taken to the auction. We know previously small tea scale factories have been fetching high prices in Mombasa. However, tea factories at the moment are congested; tea does not get the value. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the KTDA factories insist on a situation where tea has to be picked with two leaves and a bud. We find that tea estates will buy tea which - forgive me - but we call it, mang'irito . This is where farmers just pull the tea leaves, whether they are three or four. The private tea estate factories buy this kind of tea leaves. However, we find the Government and KTDA factories chasing away farmers who deliver mang'irito to the private tea factories. They are accused of committing an offence. This happens yet the farmer has no liability to the KTDA factory. The factory cannot buy his tea. What do we expect this farmer to do? I would like the Ministry either to consider this Motion or immediately bring the Sessional Paper they have been talking about. At least, this should be done before this Parliament lapses. It is such a crucial matter for the tea sector. Tea growing for small-scale farmers in this country cannot expand because the KTDA factories are limiting them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you go to many leaf-weighing centres, sometimes you have to wait until midnight for the KTDA people to come and collect the tea. Some of them do not have lorries. They come to collect tea using tractors. The tractor keeps the tea which was picked in the morning until the next day. The process of making tea includes fermenting. Tea delivered eight hours, 12 hours or 16 hours after picking will have fermented and withered. The value will go down. Even the weight will go down and the farmer loses. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to urge our colleagues that we adopt this Motion. I also urge the Government to consider bringing the Sessional Paper. If it is difficult, then we should repeal the KTDA Act all together and allow groups of farmers to construct their own factories just like the tea estates do without any limitations being imposed by the KTDA. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}