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{
    "id": 248391,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/248391/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 304,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kipchumba",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 313,
        "legal_name": "Joseph Kipchumba Lagat",
        "slug": "joseph-lagat"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are all aware that cotton is grown in the arid and semi-arid areas. That is one way of ensuring that our country's land is utilised fully. However, we are also aware that the cotton produced in this country can also be of competitive quality because we can afford cheap labour. We are having a problem of unemployment, yet some of our land is under- utilised. Therefore, the Government must move with speed to effect--- It is known all over the world that the best cotton is produced in tropical areas where this country falls. I also want to support the fact that the authority should be supported by being given an initial capital of Kshs1 billion. However, the money must be a revolving fund. We are aware that some authorities, in the past, have been given money which went to the drain. If, indeed, Kshs1 billion is given to support the authority, it must be seen to be a revolving fund. It must be repaid. We have new ginneries everywhere, for example, in Kerio Valley and western Kenya which were bought but they have not been used because the industry collapsed. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am happy that, currently, we have the market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). But what are its benefits to this country? There are, indeed, no benefits to this country because as we are all aware, the middlemen and exporters reap most of the benefits. We hope that this industry will be encouraged, and many Kenyans are waiting for that. We also hope that the industry will not collapse again because the textile industry 1134 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 6, 2006 that existed in this country collapsed in the 1980s basically because of competition. I also hope there will be legislation that will put in place an institution that will ensure the production of high quality seeds. In the absence of a company like the Kenya Seed Company that will, indeed, produce high quality seeds, this authority will, in my view, be unable to enforce the production of high quality seeds because it may not necessarily have the capacity and capability to do so. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}