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{
    "id": 234188,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/234188/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 268,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Kibunguchy",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Health",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 294,
        "legal_name": "Enoch Wamalwa Kibunguchy",
        "slug": "enoch-kibunguchy"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, first, I would like to thank all my colleagues in this House who have contributed positively to this Bill. Their concerns have been taken in and we are going to consider them when looking at the amendments to this Bill. I wish to reiterate the point that the essence of this Bill was really to domesticate the World Health Organisation (WHO) Legal Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. There are a number of things that I really would like to touch on. One of them is the composition of the Tobacco Products Regulatory Board. A number of ideas were brought forth for instance, the idea of making the post of Chairman of the Board substantive. Secondly, it was proposed that we must include in the Board the following people: The Managing Director of the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), the Managing Director of NACADA and the Director of Agriculture. Many hon. Members have also questioned the statistics that we gave out. For instance, it is true that we use Kshs18 billion every year towards the cost of treating illnesses caused by use of tobacco. These are not just statistics from Government hospitals. They have also been derived from private clinics, out-of-pocket expenditure and faith-based organisations. My colleague, hon. Bett, said that the tobacco industry contributes Kshs6 billion to the Exchequer. That figure has been banded around so much, but when you go to the records of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) the true figure that is contributed from BAT to the Exchequer is actually less than Kshs1 billion. So, we just want to put the record straight and say that the amount of money that is contributed to the Exchequer in relation to the money that we use to treat diseases caused by tobacco use is negligible. I would like to pay glowing tribute to hon. Sungu and the Departmental Committee on Health, Housing, Labour and Social Welfare for having come up with very brilliant ideas with 3772 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 16, 2006 regard to what will be included in the amendments. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, one of the areas that I would really like to touch on is that of education and communication. It is extremely vital that we are not just going to mete out punishment but we also want to give education so that in the long-run, we get a population of Kenyans who will change their perception, habits and culture. Once we reach that stage, then it will become extremely important and helpful. Ideas have been raised about agriculture and that these tobacco growers will lose their livelihood but I would like to assure them that we are going to put forth a fund that will go towards economically viable alternatives to tobacco growing. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I conclude, I want to say that we are not banning smoking. I want to say that the idea of this Bill is to protect the non-smokers because they also have a right to a smoke-free environment. The idea of this Bill is to protect our young. Statistics have shown that the young are very easily manipulated and vulnerable and so we must protect them through this legislation. We also know that eventually the people who graduate to smoke bhang and hard drugs will always start with smoking tobacco. The other thing is that we would like to have responsible advertisements so that our young are not excited, manipulated and confused. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I finish, I throw the challenge to the Ministry of Transport to come in strongly and rein in the smoking vehicles that we see on our roads and also the trains because really to stop people from smoking cigarettes and yet there are harmful fumes that come from our vehicles, will be an exercise in futility. With those few remarks, I would like to move."
}