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"id": 234181,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Raila",
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"id": 195,
"legal_name": "Raila Amolo Odinga",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the argument which is flaunted all the time is that this is a commercial activity that benefits the farmers. Hon. Sungu has elaborately explained here, and I concur with him, that, in fact, it facilitates exploitation of farmers. The interest earned is very big, yet the portion that goes into the pockets of the farmers is negligible. They get peanuts! The land on which tobacco is grown can easily be converted into the production of other equally profitable crops. I have in mind Southern Nyanza in Oyani and Kuria areas. These areas could easily be converted into sugar-cane production, which is less harmful and more rewarding than tobacco farming. So, the argument that tobacco growing is profiting farmers does not hold water. Internationally, actions have been taken to control smoking. If you travel to Europe today, you will find that smoking is banned in most public places. Most airlines have banned smoking. You will find that most flights these days are smoke-free. When the plane is about to take off, they warn you that smoking is not allowed in any section of the aircraft, including toilets. In the toilets, there are smoke detectors. People have been arrested in aircraft because of trying to smoke in toilets and have been prosecuted for doing so. You are not allowed to smoke in a lift or in offices. We, as a country, need this law. In fact, we needed it yesterday to impose stringent measures, so that our people can be moved away from the cancer of smoking. It has been said, and, of course, this is not new, that smoking causes cancer. Cancer, as you know, has very little cure. We now know that smoking causes impotence. To say nothing about what hon. Bett has said, it interferes with one's reproductive organs. He said that we can use tobacco for birth control. I am sure that will not make women very happy. We need to go beyond this. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have compared the Bill that was published by the Ministry, and the other one that was prepared by hon. Sungu, and found out that there are certain areas which the Ministry left out and should be considered. One is the issue of compensation to the victims and secondly, the issue of education. We need to introduce in the schools' syllabus, education regarding the use of tobacco so that children are inducted at an early age about the dangers of smoking. I do not see how this is harmful because we will only be informing them about the consequences of smoking. If we succeed in disseminating this information to our children, at that early age, we will succeed in controlling cigarette smoking. We know that there are several toxins found in tobacco; quite a number. One, which is very harmful is the lead content. Lead is a very harmful substance. We are moving towards using lead- November 16, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3769 free gasoline. That is already in effect in Europe and North America. The lead content of the tobacco products manufactured in this country is ten times higher than it is in other countries. This is something that requires urgent attention because it affects skin and causes skin cancer, as we know. This Bill needs to be passed by this House, as a matter of urgency, so that it can come into effect. The area that I do not agree with regards the composition of the members of the board. This is in Clause 5 of the Bill, which establishes the Tobacco Products Regulatory Board. I feel very strongly that, if we will to have a Board that will regulate the products produced by manufacturers, then manufacturers ought to be represented. I think it is unfair, and the law of natural justice requires that no one should be condemned unheard. Since there are already 12 members in the Board, there is no reason why we should not have one more member to represent the industry, sitting in the Board. That is something we intend to propose during the Committee Stage; that, we include a member of the tobacco manufacturing industry in that Board. He will represent the minority, but the Board will, at least, get professional information from the industry while making decisions. I support, strongly, the introduction of this Bill because I know it will help our children and enable us to respond to the serious international crisis of smoking tobacco. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}