HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 252959,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/252959/?format=api",
"text_counter": 195,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. M'Mukindia",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 271,
"legal_name": "Kirugi Joseph Laiboni M'Mukindia",
"slug": "kirugi-mmukindia"
},
"content": "This is a shame to Kenya, not just to the Ministers or the Government concerned. It shames me, as a Kenyan, to see farmers in western Kenya and Nyanza Province suffering when I know that there is a certain clique of people reaping billions of shillings in profits by importing sugar into this country at the farmers' expense. At the end of the day, we ought to ask ourselves: \"What are we, as leaders in this country, here for? Why were we elected to represent our people?\" Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the sugar industry, all over the world today, has very bright prospects despite the fact that in two years time, COMESA rules will come into force and our industry will be exposed to the competition in the world. I know, for sure, that the sugar industry, as Prof. Anyang'-Nyong'o has just said, has a bright future. However, are we putting any mechanisms in place, as the hon. Member has put it in his Motion, to ensure that farmers in Kenya reap the benefits of that bright future? Prof. Anyang'-Nyong'o has just mentioned that, in most countries including Brazil, sugar is being turned into power alcohol. This means that in the next two to three years, there will be a huge sugar shortage worldwide. The US and several other countries are doing the same. If we do not put the right mechanisms in place today, our farmers will not reap the benefits in two to three years time, which also coincides with the lifting of the COMESA rules, to take advantage of increased prices. The Minister has to do something now and not tomorrow to ensure that in two years time, this country is ready to reap the expected benefits. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is absolutely no reason why high-cost countries like Brazil, Mauritius, Cuba and USA are able to make profits out of sugar and we, in Kenya, supposedly a low-cost producing country are not making profits. There must be something wrong. The Minister has to ask himself: \"What is wrong?\" He should put the corrective measures in place immediately. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, looking at the issue of taxing farmers, in terms of principle, what is the rationale of taxing farmers? The Minister comes from a highly-productive area. He is, in fact, a farmer. Can he really convince the people of Cherengany Constituency, that it is okay to tax maize farmers? What then is the difference between maize and sugar? What is the difference between maize, sugar and coffee? There is no rationale. Could we know the rationale for taxing Kenyan sugar-cane farmers? What is the principle underlying this? It is not the cost of administering the sugar industry because we have set a precedent in this House in so far as the CDF administration is concerned. We have said it cannot go beyond 3 per cent of the cost of the funds. Why then would the Minister require 7 per cent levy to administer the sugar industry if the standard is 3 per cent for the CDF? Therefore, at the very maximum, the Minister must reduce the Sugar Development Levy (SDL) to 3 per cent. He should also tell this House, and this country, how that money is used. This money belongs to the farmers. The farmers have a right to know how it is being used. They have a right to know why Muhoroni Sugar Company (MSC) and MSM are not operating as they should. Kenyan farmers need to also know why CSC is not doing as well as it should. They also need to know why Busia Sugar Factory (BSF) has not been assisted to take off. We ought to know this. He is not doing this because of the farmers, but because of Kenya. We are losing out and it is not right. 536 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 19, 2006 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also would like to encourage the Minister to look ahead and support irrigation as Prof. Anyang'-Nyong'o said earlier on. Without irrigation, our productivity levels will be low, the costs of production will be high and, therefore, we will not be as competitive as we ought to be. This constant differential between our local demands and supply of 200,000 to 300,000 metric tonnes per year, what is so impossible about increasing our production to cover this constant shortfall? Why is it that we are not encouraging MSM to come on board? Why is it that we cannot put in Kshs1 billion or Kshs2 billion into, for example, Muhoroni Sugar Company (MSC) today? Looking at what we have done in the last three years, in fact, in certain parastatals, broadly the Government has put in close to Kshs2 billion into Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC). We have put in Kshs2 billion into the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) We have put in another Kshs1 billion into Kenya Meat Commission (KMC). Other beneficiaries are KenGen and Telkom Kenya. We have subsidized parastatals in the last three years to the tune of Kshs10 billion to Kshs15 billion. What have we done to support Kenyan farmers? Instead, sugar-cane farmers pay the Sugar Development Levy at 7 per cent including other taxes. Instead of allocating enough money to the agricultural sector, we take away money from this sector. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am aware of what the Minister said yesterday. He said that the Agricultural Recovery Programme will receive Kshs5.5 billion over the next five years. This translates to Kshs1.1 billion per year for the agricultural sector. While I appreciate that effort, this is absolute peanuts being allocated to the agricultural sector, and yet it is the largest sector in this country. I would like to say that 80 per cent of our people are in the agricultural sector, and all the Government can afford is to allocate it Kshs1.1 billion per year for the next five years! That is a shame! This is the case and yet we are ready to allocate the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC), Telkom (K) Ltd. and the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) Kshs2 billion, Kshs2 billion and Kshs1 billion, respectively. Why is this happening? Is it because the farmer in this country is weak; that he or she has no voice? Maybe, we, the hon. Members who come from the agricultural areas, are to blame to some extent. We do not put enough pressure on the Government to ensure that it allocates enough money to the agricultural sector. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I urge the Minister to consider increasing the number of products that are produced by sugar industries as a way of making them more profitable and viable. Mumias Sugar Company (MSC), as Prof. Anyang'-Nyong'o said, now produces around six megawatts of electricity everyday. That company sells between three and four megawatts to the KPLC. That is another source of income for the MSC. What are we doing to ensure that Chemelil Sugar and SONY sugar companies do the same thing? When will the Government allocate money to Muhoroni Sugar Company and get rid of the sharks, the so-called receivers? This is because all they do is to receive money, not on behalf of wananchi, but on behalf of themselves. They want this to continue forever. When will the Government set aside some money to be allocated to Miwani Sugar Company? Why should the Sugar Development Levy not be disbursed to those companies to ensure that we turn them around and establish new factories? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, could the Minister for Agriculture also liaise with the Minister for Energy to ensure that we revert to power alcohol? He needs to do that to ensure that the farmers have an alternative product to sell in this market. Finally, we expect the Minister for Agriculture to ensure that sugar and maize farmers are encouraged to produce more, taking into account the fact that alcohol production has increased all over the world. Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I support this Motion."
}