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{
    "id": 305305,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/305305/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 283,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mrs. Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 376,
        "legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
        "slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, thank you for giving me this opportunity and before I second, I want to take this opportunity to send a message of condolences to the families of the bereaved women who died in the Tanzania tragedy. I pray that God may give them peace at this difficult time. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to congratulate hon. Mungatana for bringing this Bill before the House and for seeking to include the coconut industry within our economy. The only thing I regret is that even as we are discussing this critical Bill, the Government side does not seem to take this issue seriously. It is no wonder that you have the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) always saying: Pwani si Kenya and really, if they were serious, they would be here to show that Pwani is in Kenya. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to thank hon. Mungatana especially because he is also bringing this Bill at the point that we are looking at the Seeds and Plant Varieties Amendment Bill. I think it is coming in the afternoon. I want to thank hon. Mungatana because, indeed, one of the things that as a country we have not put a lot of energy in is our plant genetic resources. When we hear there is oil in Turkana, there is a lot of excitement and energy and people buying land. But we do not realize that our plant genetic resources probably are of more value than gold, oil and all the other natural resources that we seem to put ahead. Therefore, I, indeed, thank hon. Mungatana for taking care of this sector. Kenya would be a much richer nation if we would not only focus on the coconut industry, but all other plant genetic resources. Indeed, Mr. Mungatana has indicated a lot of the beneficial properties of coconut; they range from medicinal to practical properties; the tree is even used to make furniture and all that. I want to also focus a lot on the aspect of the medicinal value. I will be speaking to it when we will be talking about seeds and plant varieties. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, this is one sector that, as a country, we have not put as much effort and energy as we ought to have put. There are countries that have put a lot of energy and efforts in this sector and have benefited a lot. People from other countries come to Kenya, get our plants and patent them. In Kenya when we want to get it back, we really cannot. The other day we saw Kenyans were beaten at the Olympics. The Ugandans who beat Kenyans at the Olympics--- If you looked at their names you became very suspicious. It was not just that somebody was trained here; their name was very Kenyan. I have not sought to know whether he was originally Kenyan but I highly"
}