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"content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Bill. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister for Health for bringing this Bill before the House. I also want to thank the hon. Members who have commended me. As we know, I have also brought to this House a Bill of the same nature. I also accept the fact that, under the rules of this House, the Government Bill on the issue takes precedence. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me quote the Bible, which says: \"Come. Let us reason together.\" Let us not make this issue personal. Let us look at the issues as they are. Let those who support and oppose the Bill say their bit but, at the end of the day, as a nation, we should rise to the occasion. We should realise how important tobacco control is in Kenya and in the world. It hinges on the future of this country and future generations. The key issue here, according to the World Health Organisation, is that tobacco is the most preventable cause of death, disability and disease in Kenya and the world over. That is paramount. Secondly, growth, manufacture, sale and use of tobacco is not regulated by any law in Kenya despite the fact that, as a country, we have ratified the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the fact that this Bill is here means that the Cabinet 3760 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 16, 2006 approved it. So, it is upon this House to consider this Bill and rise to the occasion. Let us do away with the speculation that the Minister for Health, through this Bill, wants to punish anybody. This Bill is not against the tobacco industry. It is not against the farmers. It is not against the consumers. The Bill seeks to protect the rights of everybody. While moving this debate, the Assistant Minister for Health, Dr. Kibunguchy, referred to the numbers of deaths caused by smoking in the world each year, which are alarming. The projected increase in deaths associated with smoking is also alarming. It is telling that 13 per cent and 45 per cent of youths in primary and secondary schools respectively, smoke. It means that our children are growing up, hooked to tobacco. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, why are our people getting hooked to tobacco? Why, particularly, are our children getting hooked to tobacco? The simple reason is that tobacco is now genetically modified to ensure maximum addiction. Those people who push these products deliberately target the young generation because it is a gullible lot. They are vulnerable because they are not able to make an informed choice. A teenager cannot make an informed choice as we, in this House, can. We know some of the facts. We cannot do something because somebody else is doing it or because of peer pressure! We cannot do something because we have seen it on television, which shows romantic scenes where celebrities are depicted smoking, which appear fantastic to children. This is what this Bill is aiming at; to protect our children and to ensure that nobody can deliberately target them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me turn to environmental health. The effect of smoking on non-smokers has been well put by hon. Members who have spoken before me. Tobacco does not only affect smokers, but it also affects the non-smokers. We should look at this issue from several points of view. For example, those parents who smoke in their houses, do they take the opportunity to protect the children in those houses? The children are more affected by smoke more than anybody else. What about that person in a bus, train or bar? Those people who do not smoke also have rights. So, the so-called \"second-hand smoke\" is a major issue. It has been said here that smokers also have rights, and I agree with that! But non-smokers also have rights. The legal maxim is: \"Your rights end where my rights begin\", and this august House is called upon to ensure that it protects the rights of every individual Kenyan, whether they smoke or not. I will come back to that issue again because I want to show, under this Bill, how smokers are also protected. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is medical evidence that the tobacco plant affects the farmers who handle it. We have here, in the Speaker's Galleries, Prof. Odhiambo, who is a very well known forensic and heart surgeon in Kenya. He has operated on numerous cases, and I have consulted him many times. There are many people who have been affected by tobacco. There are farmers who have lost their legs, and so on. The farmers are never given protective gear and yet, when we plant tobacco, we use chemicals. The tobacco plant itself is a chemical; it has over 400 chemicals! These chemicals affect human beings. If you ask hon. Omamba, who talked to me yesterday, he told me how this plant affects the farmers. As a result of the use of chemicals in the curing process in areas where tobacco is grown, even the soil is affected. You cannot grow other plants on that soil! This Bill is addressing that issue squarely, because we want to make sure that the Government is given the responsibility of ensuring that cessation activities are promoted to the extent that those farmers are expended for alternative cropping; that they are actually able to treat the soils which have been affected by this harmful bacteria that is generated by the tobacco plant. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we must remember that, even though an hon. Member said that trees are no longer used by the British American Tobacco (BAT) and other companies in the curing process, trees are still being used and forests have been decimated. Therefore, whatever they are saying is fiction. There is no synthetic material that BAT is using even now. What have we November 16, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3761 done as a Parliament? What has the Ninth Parliament done to ensure that the people of Kenya are protected? The Ministry of Health has published this Bill more than five times since I came to Parliament. It was on the Floor of this House in 1999, and it was never debated. Year in, year out, it has not been debated. Even this year, the Ministry of Health published this Bill on 21st March, 2006, and the First Reading only came when the Speaker made a ruling from the Chair. Yet my Bill, which I brought for the First Reading could never be debated because of that! I want to congratulate the Minister for pushing this Bill through. They are very consistent but, maybe, there was some lack of co-ordination somewhere. But this should not be the case. We, as a Parliament, must rise to our responsibilities and make sure that we pass this Bill. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as we have signed the WHO Framework on Tobacco Control, we must also ensure that we domesticate it, as some hon. Members have said. Let us open our eyes to what goes on elsewhere in the world. The issue of tobacco is a \"hot potato\"! A Member of Congress lost his seat because he was influenced by tobacco companies to press some issues on behalf of the tobacco industry. In Canada, UK and the USA, it is illegal to advertise tobacco! It is also illegal to smoke in public places. Why not in Kenya? When we talk about tourists coming here, those laws that apply in their countries should also apply here. We are just protecting Kenyans! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, even here in East Africa, we are lagging behind. Kenya ought to be a leader in this region! We are the leaders economically and in many other respects. But in the line of legislation, Tanzania and Uganda are ahead of us because they have some form of legislation. Recently, BAT closed the Jinja factory and brought it to Kenya because we do not have such legislation. What a shame to us, as a Parliament! I am saying that as an hon. Member; I am ashamed of myself also! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, protocol demands that we protect the health of the public and consumers. It also demands that we should eliminate misleading advertisements. We must also enhance public awareness and protect the rights of non-smokers, especially children. We must also have public education, encourage cessation activities with a friendly face, so that we can help our people. If they are going to replace that plant at their own volition, we should help them do that by funding them. In that respect, we must also encourage tax measures which will have the dual effect of increasing Government revenue, so that we can fund these activities, and also hike the prices of cigarettes so that--- It is a win-win situation. The tobacco industry will tell you that they have got what they call the \"corporate social responsibility\". That is a misnomer in the sense that they will tell you that they have planted forests, yet you cannot see any of those forests! They will tell you that they have built schools, but at what cost to the community? They will tell you that they have built some health centres, but at what cost to the community? We have never heard them say that they are not encouraging our children to smoke. The tobacco industry has very powerful lobby groups, and this is not unique to Kenya. This is happening all over the world! The other day I was lucky enough to attend a meeting of the Committee on Health, Housing, Labour and Social Welfare. At the end of the meeting, when BAT and various other organizations presented their matters to the Committee - the Chairman of that Committee is here and he is going to tell you - I had the audacity to ask the finance director:- \"Do you smoke?\" The white guy turned white and he blushed. Most executives in these organizations do not smoke because they are aware of the chemicals in tobacco, like nicotine. They know tobacco kills. Why do they lobby or promote something that they admit is harmful to people's health? They have printed on the cigarette packets: \"Cigarette smoking is harmful to your health\". Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, mosquitoes cause malaria, and malaria kills. But mosquitoes do not have lobbyists. We do not have a single mosquito lobbying anywhere saying: \"Please, leave us alone. Do not bring DDT!\" HIV/AIDS also kills, but there is public education 3762 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 16, 2006 about it. Some of us who are still young and virile know how difficult it is to prevent some of these things. Everyone will agree with me that it is not easy, but it takes a lot of effort. But we have created public awareness and people are aware that if they do not use condoms or abstain to save themselves, then they may take the chance of becoming sick and dying. Yet, with tobacco, there is no public education! That is what this Bill is saying. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am calling upon this Parliament to use its power to prevent the tobacco pandemic. There are several myths that have been spread by the tobacco industry, and I want to counter them right now. There is no intention to make smoking illegal; no! The Bill is very clear on that issue. We want to encourage awareness of the health implications of smoking. So, when we talk about \"warning\" in the various languages, both in English and Swahili, and in the predominant languages of the areas where people come from, we are merely trying to make sure that our people are aware that they are going to smoke at their own risk! We are not advocating, and I want to assure my honourable friend, the hon. Member from Kuria Constituency, who is also the Assistant Minister for Health, that the letter and spirit of this Bill is not going to advocate for the stoppage of tobacco farming. It aims at protecting the interests of the farmer. We will encourage cessation, but it will not be forced. Let those who want to continue growing tobacco do so. There is an intention to protect non-smokers and children. There is also an intention to provide those who may be harmed by tobacco with an opportunity to have access to legal redress. I have talked to a number of smokers, including some hon. Members in this House. They told me how it is difficult to come out of the smoking habit once an individual is hooked to it. They also told me how they feel when they have an urge to smoke. Since they are educated, they also know that smoking is harmful to their health. At the moment, there is no law in Kenya which allows anybody to sue the BAT Company or any other manufacturer for compensation, if he or she got injured. As a young man working at the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), I had an uncle who was a chain smoker. He was an aircraft engineer; a very important man. He was admitted to Aga Khan Hospital after developing cancer. Before he died he became very thin and black, but still he insisted on smoking. It was a pity, that he would want to stop smoking, but he could not do it. There are many other Kenyans who are suffering because of this. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, several concerns have been raised about petty traders who sell cigarettes by sticks. I want to say that this is the most dangerous thing that this Parliament can allow to take place. This is how our children get access to tobacco for the first time. These traders sell sweets and tobacco by sticks, because most people cannot afford a packet. That is how they get hooked. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, even those tourists we talked about in the Departmental Committee on Health, Housing, Labour and Social Welfare, have stiff regulations with regard to tobacco use in their countries. Therefore, the tourism industry will not be affected. Under this Bill, the Government will have a responsibility to make sure that if farmers want seeds, then they will have alternative crops to grow. I also want to proffer that employment will not be threatened. Likewise, civil liberty will also be protected. Under the Bill, the Tobacco Board is purely representative. But we also admit the fact that interested parties, like manufacturers, cannot, and will not, be sitting as judges upon matters that affect them. When somebody argues that control and regulation are different, that is not true according to me. The difference is the same, because Parliament must provide a legal framework. Under that framework, only the judges can say whether somebody is wrong or right. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Bill will not take effect immediately. It has to go through Second and Third Readings before it is sent to the Office of the Attorney-General and, finally, to the President for assent. It will not be implemented immediately. So, this situation of November 16, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3763 giving time to the stakeholders in the industry is already there. Let those who are in this industry know that the Ninth Parliament will pass this Bill. Let us make sure that we recognise the rights of others and give responsibility to the premise owners. We should give the time frame for those who are there to make sure that they put their house in order. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, even promotion advertisements affect our children. We have done countrywide consultation with all the stakeholders, including the BAT and other manufacturers. Their rights and concerns have been raised in the Bill and the amendments to come. Although we are few here, passionately, I want this House not to look at this as a Ministry of Health Bill only, but to look at it as the property of the Ninth Parliament. If we pass this Bill, we will be taking responsibility for the future of this country; to protect our children for posterity. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}