HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 221384,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/221384/?format=api",
"text_counter": 335,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Angwenyi",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 326,
"legal_name": "Jimmy Nuru Ondieki Angwenyi",
"slug": "jimmy-angwenyi"
},
"content": "It reads as follows:- This House grants leave to introduce a Bill for an Act of Parliament to amend the KTDA Act to provide for urgent direct Government investment in the rehabilitation, expansion, or construction of tea factories to adequately process tea produced by small scale farmers throughout the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we do know that when this Government took over, the economy was in shambles. Take, for example, our sugar sub-sector was in shambles; our dairy industry was in shambles; our fishing industry was in shambles; the meat industry was in shambles and our public banking industry had almost collapsed. The agencies supporting the economy had collapsed, leading to a negative growth rate of two per cent. But this Government came in with a policy to rehabilitate all these sub-sectors of the economy such that we could realize a positive growth rate. Indeed, the Government has moved with despatch to write off debts owed by the coffee industry to the tune of Kshs5.8 billion. It moved with despatch to invest Kshs1.1 billion to rehabilitate the Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC) and the dairy industry. It moved with despatch to spend Kshs1.6 billion to rehabilitate the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC). Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Government has demonstrated that it is interested in revamping all the sectors of the economy. The ones I have mentioned--- There are additional ones, for example, it moved to rehabilitate the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC), the agency that finances agricultural production in this country by Kshs2.1 billion. It moved on to rehabilitate our Telkom Kenya by writing off debts amounting to Kshs17 billion. It moved to the Kenya Railways Corporation recently and spent Kshs8 billion in that industry. It has moved to the cotton industry, which had collapsed completely from the face of this country, and it has pumped in Kshs491 million to bring up the industry. But it has not spent a single penny in grants or even in guarantee of a loan to the tea industry. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as we all know, the tea industry has been one of the few industries in this country that has been earning foreign exchange for this country and has sustained itself over the years. When the other industries or sub-sectors were collapsing, the small scale farmers stood up and put efforts to maintain that sub-sector to the extent that their production has increased two-fold, from the year 2000, from about 500 million kilogrammes per year to 1.08 kilogrammes per year. But have the processing industries expansion been commensurate to that expansion in production? The answer is \"no\". Right now we have a crushing capacity of 795 May 16, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1377 million kilogrammes per year against the production, as I said earlier, of 1.080 billion kilogrammes per year. So, we have got a shortfall of close to 300 million kilogrammes of green leaf that goes to waste and, therefore, resulting in a loss to the small scale farmers. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, who are these small scale farmers? These are the farmers who maintain and feed 12 million Kenyans directly. If I distribute the numbers, about two million households in Kisii region; two million in Kipsigis region, about close to half a million in Nandi; about four million in Central Province, another two million in Eastern Province and I have not included some of the periphery production areas which have come into the stream. These 12 million families have been able to maintain themselves without looking for handouts or relief, paying their taxes and that brings in to this country in terms of foreign exchange earnings an average of Kshs50 billion a year. There is no industry in this country which brings in as much money except the tourism industry, which has been revamped and, in recent years, has surpassed the tea industry. But this industry that supports 12 million Kenyans; this industry that earns Kshs50 billion for this country; this industry that pays in excess of Kshs20 billion in taxes has not been assisted in any way, shape or form by this Government; a Government that has said it is a priority to assist sub-sectors of the economy so that it can develop faster and give wealth to Kenyans. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am really surprised why the Ministry of Agriculture has not looked into this issue. In the process, when production has been increased, the cost of constructing a factory today has risen from about Kshs130 million per factory to Kshs400 million or Kshs500 million per factory. It has increased three-fold while the prices have stayed stationary. Therefore, when this Parliament, in its own wisdom, enacted the KTDA Act, the KTDA, as a liberalised agency, increased the contribution of farmers to put up tea factories from 30 per cent to 50 per cent. So, imagine, those farmers in Kapenguria who have tried to get into the tea-growing industry, how long is it going to take them to construct a factory when they are required to raise a minimum of Kshs250 million before they can access a loan facility for the balance to construct a factory. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is an arduous and difficult experience. I am speaking as a representative of the people of Kitutu Chache, who have been, for the last five years, trying to construct a factory at Sombogo in Marani. The factory was initially estimated to cost Kshs180 million but today, we are told that it is going to cost Kshs491 million. A factory to process our 15 million killogrammes of green leaf produced in a year. Since we are unable to raise that amount and because we have not been able to get any assistance from the Government, our tea which we now deliver at Tombe Tea Factory, half of it goes to waste. Half of the tea produced in Tombe which is over 20 million killogrammes goes to waste because the crushing capacity of Tombe Tea Factory can only be, at the highest, at 16 million killogrammes against a production of 35 million killogrammes. So, we can see what benefit and advantage this country would have if the Government moves in with despatch to construct the required tea factories. This will ensure that the tea which goes to waste can be sold or processed. In fact, we are moving to an area where we value-add and achieve higher prices in the world market so that this country earns foreign exchange. This will ensure that this country earns money for the wealth creation of our people and earn money through taxation from earnings from tea. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Government has not moved in to salvage that one industry. It is as if they want to punish that industry for having sustained itself and expanded in production. Our people are now resorting to mangirito sales. This is where you auction your tea leaves to international private companies, like James Finlay, for example, or Sasini Tea and Coffee, Brooke Bond or what they call Unilever today. So, our farmers are selling their green leaves for peanuts to these multinationals with resultant losses. In fact, they do not even recoup their cost of 1378 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES May 16, 2007 input and picking the tea leaves. They are, therefore, being impoverished. Mind you, these small scale tea farmers own between one and ten acres of land. When they devote that land to tea production and yet they cannot sell that tea because it cannot be processed, we know what poverty we are inflicting on them. This House, because it is a representative of the people of Kenya, should take care of the welfare of all Kenyans. This House, which taxes Kenyans and knows where the taxation, which maintains all other sectors of this country's economy comes from, should rise up and implore the Government to invest in factory expansion, rehabilitation and construction so that we can assist those farmers as they increase their production. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the farmers have increased their production, not only because they have expanded the area of production, but they have also increased the per acre production of tea leaves in the country. They have also increased the quality of their production. By the way, I need to inform this House that I serve the Steering Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on the World Trade Organisation (WTO), in Geneva. I represent five countries in Eastern Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Malawi. We re currently discussing how we can get the farmers in this region - farmers who produce tea, coffee and other crops - to get value for their production. Our tea is used for blending poor quality teas from Sri Lanka, India, China and other countries in Africa. Our tea is used to blend to bring up the quality of those poor quality teas from those other countries. However, we do not get adequate value for our tea. This is why this Government, country and Parliament--- I will bring a Motion to this House so that we require that our tea is fully processed so that the value-adding process is done in this country. This will ensure that when we sell out, we sell a finished product so that we can fetch higher prices for our production and our people will become wealthier. If 12 million Kenyans became wealthier by even Kshs10,000 per year, that would be Kshs120 billion. This country would have gone ahead. So, this is the way this country should move. It should move and devote, maybe, Kshs10 billion or even Kshs60 billion. There will be no need to finance secondary school education in the tea producing areas because farmers can afford to pay school fees. It will be a better investment! This will also create jobs so that we can mop up our idle youth in this country; the youth who are now being bought and attracted to crime. By investing in the tea industry and expanding our tea factories, we will be achieving several goals. First, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we will be avoiding waste. Secondly, we will be creating wealth to our 12 million Kenyans. Thirdly, we will be increasing our taxation so that the Government will get more revenue to give to the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), to construct infrastructure, pay for free education and pay even for free health care. We will earn foreign exchange, which we need to transact business with other nations. We will improve our balance of payment if we invest in this industry. We will create jobs and we will be improving our economy substantially. So, this country needs to move into this with despatch. They should not be bound by the liberalisation measures they have taken. If they have taken a liberalisation measure which is detrimental to the economy and the welfare of Kenyans, it is incumbent upon this House to make amendments to any of those measures so that we can invest in these people. As I wind up my contribution, we now need, in Gusiiland alone, five more tea factories that can process over 51 million killogrammes that go to waste annually. We need one each at Magwagwa, Sombogo, Rianyamwamu, Magenche and Suneka in Gusiiland alone. We need about three or four more in the Kericho region. We need one in Cherangany. We are also going to need one in--- These are appeals for your support. In Kapenguria, that area can produce quality tea because I have seen it. We need about five in the Eastern Province and about six in Central Province. We need two in Nakuru region. We need all these factories! The more tea we produce, the more sugar will be bought. Therefore, Mr. Sungu will also be happy. We will also have created May 16, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1379 jobs in the sugar industry. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to move."
}