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{
    "id": 403705,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/403705/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 116,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mungai",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 890,
        "legal_name": "James Kiarie Mungai",
        "slug": "james-kiarie-mungai"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. Issues to do with agriculture are very sensitive in this country. I am happy that a Member of my delegation brought up this Motion. From our counties, these are matters that are close to the farmers who are there. I wish to state that I fully support the Motion due to the fact that it is talking about the reduction of interest rates from 10 per cent to 3 per cent. Like Sen. Kittony has said, I am a farmer and when I contribute to this Motion, I will do it from a very passionate point of view. When you charge a farmer an interest rate of 10 per cent and any other businessman is charged 12 per cent by a commercial bank, literally, what you have done is that you have finished this farmer. When you look at the external factors that affect farming, they are varied and some of them do not forgive, especially when you talk about the weather. Therefore, I also support that the loans that farmers owe the AFC be written off because when a farmer plants a crop, he or she majorly relies on the weather to ensure that they harvest and sell so that they can repay the loans. If anything happens, be it natural or otherwise, it means that this farmer will never be able to recover the costs of the fertilizer that they used and even the seed itself and many other inputs that are involved in growing of some of these crops. It is, therefore, wrong for us to have a body that continues to charge interest and even sometimes sells farmers properties. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Motion should go further and propose that any farmer who is unable to repay the loan, their farms should not be sold. There should be prohibition of selling of farmers’ properties in default. If this is done, just like what Sen. Kittony said, it creates a lot of problems even in marriages. As we propose that the interest rate goes down to 3 per cent, this can only be addressed if the other factors that are affecting our farmers are looked into. I am The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}