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{
    "id": 250146,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/250146/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 321,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Ndwiga",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Co-operative Development and Marketing",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 278,
        "legal_name": "Peter Njeru Ndwiga",
        "slug": "peter-ndwiga"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for the opportunity. From the outset, I would like to start by congratulating Dr. Ojiambo for bringing this very important Bill. I hope that this House will support it. It is important to note that this country has suffered loss in certain agreements and protocols with the outside world. I have in mind the AGOA Act where this country is just about to suffer loss of benefits for lack of home-grown cotton. As we pass this Bill, I would like the Government to support the Cotton Development Authority which is proposed in this Bill. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also the support the proposal by the Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs that we should look at the development of the cotton industry as a business. That statement is not just true for cotton but also for all other cash crops. Farmers must stop thinking about growing cotton as a hobby. They should, indeed, regard it as a business. We need to borrow from others, particularly India, where cottage industries have been developed around the ginneries. In this country, we have several co-operative societies which exist long after the demise of the cotton sector, like Malava-Malakisi Co-operative Society of Western Kenya. If all cotton farmers in Western Province supported that particular ginnery and the ginnery starts to do the basic work of ginning, around that ginnery, we can develop an Export Processing Zone (EPZ) and go beyond the ginning process to enable us produce finished products ready for export. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, all of us would recall the days of Kisumu Cotton Mills (KICOMI), and Rivatex Mills in Eldoret. Those of us who were grown-ups then will remember with nostalgia that this country produced some of the best textiles that you could find anywhere on the market, including London. If you went to London and bought a suit, by the time you landed home, that was when you would discover that it was actually made by Rivatex Mills in Eldoret. You would then wonder why you had to travel all the way to London to buy a suit that was made in Eldoret. That was good. Some of us feel really proud to wear textiles developed locally. Since the demise of the cotton sector, Kenya has literally become a mitumba country. People do not wear mitumba clothes because they love garments, but it is for lack of affordable clothing. Indeed, as leaders, we need to focus in the direction of developing our cotton sector. Wherever cotton grows, especially in southern Nyanza, Western Province, Ukambani, Meru, etcetera, let us vigorously develop the crop. There is no pride in any nation where her citizens are fed and clothed by foreigners. You cannot be a country that calls itself a free nation when you are fed and clothed by outsiders. Our focus must now change. I wanted to emphasise that point. I hope that my colleagues will support the idea of developing EPZs in the neighbourhood of existing cotton ginneries. Our cotton farmers should be protected from exploitation by a few textile manufacturers. As a result, they live under abject poverty. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}