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"id": 240718,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/240718/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Nderitu",
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"speaker": {
"id": 231,
"legal_name": "Alfred Mwangi Nderitu",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Motion. First and foremost, I would like to say I support this Motion. We have all seen what has happened to the chain of Uchumi Supermarkets. The history of Uchumi goes back 15 to 20 years. When they closed down recently, all suppliers were about to lose all their earnings. Many workers would have lost their livelihood. Many Kenyans are affected today. When they went down, we saw many politicians, Kenyans of different walks, radio and television stations bashing the Government for its downfall. I have never seen any Minister at the teller machines or any Government official in the stores or parking. Although Kenyans were shouting down the Government, now that Uchumi Supermarkets is open, they are not supporting its operations. What I am trying to say is that Kenyans and leaders of this country need to wake up now and go beyond our small cocoons of political alignments. The moment we do that, then this Motion will be a Motion to benefit all Kenyans wherever they are. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Uchumi Supermarkets being a local enterprise requires the support of all of us. Mr. Midiwo has brought this Motion at the right time. However, yesterday, I went round one of the Uchumi Supermarkets and I was surprised to see that the Kenyans who were yelling are not patronising the chain of supermarkets. We need to support Uchumi Supermarkets because when we are talking of our youth going back to manufacturing and farming, Uchumi Supermarkets would be an outlet for all the markets, farmers and the whole country at large. If you go to Nakumatt Holdings Limited, you will see almost everything they have there, including eggs, are all imported from South Africa. Why do we import eggs, oranges and onions from elsewhere? This why I am calling upon the Minister for Trade and Industry to see that Uchumi Supermarkets is supported. A Motion like this one should be passed so that we have a Consumers Protection Bill and a Traders Protection Bill. In fact, this Motion is falling short. We should even have a Traders Protection Bill. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, also in the Consumers Protection Bill, fuel should be included. Many of the multinationals who are supplying fuel to this country increase prices at will. When you wake up one morning and go to a petrol station, you see an increase in price. They are actually changing the meters at will. Who protects Alfred Nderitu who goes to that petrol station to fuel his car because he wants to go and see him mother in the hospital? We hail Mr. Midiwo because of bringing this Motion at this time when traders are increasing prices of commodities at will. This way, we can also control poverty within our areas. If today you go to a shop, you will buy a packet of unga at Kshs40. Tomorrow morning a lady who goes to a kibarua to earn Kshs100 per day finds that a packet of unga has increased to Kshs60. How is the consumer protected? I am looking at it in a wider perspective. It is just not only things we eat. In fact, even clothing, beddings and whatever is used by a human being and comes from the shop should be taken care of. There is no better time for the Government and Parliament in general to help Kenyans who are right now being fleeced dry by the traders. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, while I am still talking about traders, I would like to steer a little bit and go to local authorities, and more so, the Nairobi City Council (NCC). If you take time and drive round Nairobi at night, say from 10.00 p.m. the roads coming from Nakuru, Thika and Athi River, you will see a track of City Council askaris on all these centres charging the traders who are coming to Nairobi to deliver their agricultural ware; tomatoes, onions, bananas, July 26, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2351 oranges and cabbages, even before they reach to the market. If we want protection for consumers, we should also make sure that the traders themselves are not pinned down by the same Government which wants to make sure that consumers are protected. So, it has to be wider than this. Today the NCC is charging a crate of tomatoes Kshs200, and a bag of beans is Kshs200. So, if a trader has 100 bags, see how much he pays. That trader is supposed to come here and sell the wares to the consumer who gets the wrath. Who cushions the losses of the trader and the farmer? It is the consumer. I would, therefore, like Parliament to widen the scope of the net. The scope of the net should go right into the machinery and systems of the Government. To some extent, the Government is to blame because of inflated prices of commodities within our shops and supermarkets. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when the Minister for Trade and Industry is replying, I would like him to tell us why we are having disparity of prices of commodities to the tune exceeding 25 per cent higher in Nakumatt Holdings Limited than in Uchumi Supermarkets and other shops. What can the Government do and what powers does the Minister need to be given by this House so that these disparities can be removed completely? As you hear Kenyans say, a kilogram of sugar costs the same all over and yet some of our people are not earning a salary. If Mr. Midiwo goes out - I will use this as an example - to a shop in his constituency, he will buy the same kilogram of sugar at the same price with the person who does not even have a job. That is why most hon. Members are used to supporting our people in terms of provision. In fact, hon. Members have become an Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in their constituencies! Our people cannot afford the minimum basic items they need for their livelihood. This goes even into medicine and water. I do not understand why a litre of Keringet water in Nakumatt should cost Kshs50, while in a shop down River Road, it costs Kshs35. Something must be done! This is why I am saying that the net of the Government must be very wide. Even tyres should be included here. I would urge the people concerned and who are hon. Members - it is only that there is a short time - to bring a Bill which will encompass what Mr. Midiwo has brought here and widen the net. We would like that net to capture each and everything. Let us have one document which protects even the farmer who grows cotton. The farmer who grows cotton should be protected by the Government to sell his cotton and make all his losses and at least a percentage of about 10 per cent income to educate his children. However, right now, if we protect the consumer and we do not protect even the person who is growing the maize to make unga, then we will fall short of our achievements. We will not achieve what we want. In the mean time, I support this Motion wholeheartedly. This Motion should have proposed a bigger margin, so that if it costs a rice farmer Kshs35 to produce a kilogramme of rice, he will definitely get a market that will pay him at least Kshs40 for a kilogramme of rice. In this way, he will make a profit of Kshs5 per kilogramme. In that way, we will all benefit. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}