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{
    "id": 255925,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/255925/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 245,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kagwima",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 286,
        "legal_name": "Francis Nyamu Kagwima",
        "slug": "francis-kagwima"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, that was with a light touch. I am not in any contest with my colleagues. But having listened to those two leaders, I am excited and inspired to ask my colleagues to take the Speeches very seriously and practise what we were told. We need unity so that we can develop our country to higher heights. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when you have a Minister appointed from a certain region and then the flag flies just around that region, serving the people from that small area, that is not what we want. The flag should travel around the country and serve Kenyans in whatever portfolio so that the taxes Kenyans pay are seen to be properly utilised. Let us have Ministers for the country, not for regions. Some of the reasons some people from certain areas look for Government positions is the tendency to localise leadership. I want to appeal to the Ministers to serve the country generally. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, agriculture, as we know, is the backbone of our economy. Unfortunately, some of the cash crops, especially coffee, have gone down over the years, in terms of quantity and quality. In the 1970s, the production of coffee was up to 130,000 metric tonnes per year. Now, the figures are less than 70,000 metric tonnes per year, falling by more than half. Therefore, the foreign earnings that we used to get are not there. The employment that, that sector created is no longer there and thereby, poverty has increased. The other day when we travelled as the Departmental Committee on Education, Research and Technology, and visited some of the areas that used to do very well in coffee, I was surprised at the level of poverty in those areas. I could not believe there would be that kind of poverty in Central Province. I wonder how other parts of the country are."
}