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{
    "id": 305870,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/305870/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 492,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Since we are now using bio-engineering to breed plants, if you have to plant maize seed in the usual way, you have to get the breeder to allow you to do so. This requirement excludes our farmers and may even deal a blow to our own sovereignty because, as we all know, anybody who controls your stomach, controls your destiny. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, plant genetic resources are very important in terms of our own food security. They are also important for purposes of medicinal values they may have, amongst other things. Previously, I spoke at length on these matters, while debating a Motion which was brought to the House by hon. Gumbo. So, I do not want to dwell too much on these issues but let me mention that I even gave examples of Kenyan plants of medicinal value. So, I would want to encourage the Minister that, other than introducing amendments that focus a lot on breeders’ rights, let us put a lot more emphasis on our own plant genetic resources. Let us not allow a foreigner to come to Kenya and discover that we use materials from the Muarubaini tree to cure certain diseases, only for him to go back home, research on it and come back to sell it to us, as Kenyans, using some fancy name. I know for a fact that my grandfather had a medicine that cured snakebites. I asked my family to tell me to whom he passed it on, but nobody knows. During that time, the white men came and told us that if you were a person who could cure snakebites, then you were something bad. They used a negative terminology to describe such a person but they took the same medicine and made it their own. They then come back and re-sell it to us at a very high cost. So, I would want to encourage that, other than this Bill, let us look at other related laws such as the Industrial Property Act, which looks into the issue of patents. The issue of patenting live forms has been very contentious at the national level. Let us see how we can guard our own resources and protect our people and our future generations. This is what we call “sustainable development”. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}