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{
    "id": 451516,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/451516/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 382,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Nyamunga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 738,
        "legal_name": "Rose Nyamunga Ogendo",
        "slug": "rose-nyamunga-ogendo"
    },
    "content": "I want to say that the Address was generally good, but there are some issues that do not make a lot of sense to me. If you look at floods, we are at it again. It is now April, in another year. During this time last year, the President had the opportunity to be in Kisumu. He promised to do something about flooding. Here we are again, in April. If you look at the newspapers of today, you will learn that in my own constituency, in a village called “Kakola”, people are already in transit. They do not know where else to go because of perpetual flooding. I do not know what is so difficult in controlling flooding. Were the Budalang’i floods controlled because the then Vice- President came from that area? Do I need to be Deputy President or President for floods in Nyando to be controlled? I do not think that is the way forward. On the issue of fertilizers, we need not import the input for the benefit of a few people who are engaged in its importation. Fertilizers can be developed within our country. We have the very important National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) in this country. We had an opportunity to interact with NACOSTI. They can invent a lot, including fertilizer but you realise that some people must do business with fertilizer and increase VAT on it, so that our people do not access the input easily to improve their agricultural yields. How can we have food security, if we cannot talk about cheap fertilizers; if fertilizers are not easily accessible? Many people cannot afford expensive fertilizers. As we talk of improving the economy and food security in this country, we increase our VAT. Our taxation rate is too high. Our local pharmaceutical industry cannot compete with imported drugs because of imposition of taxation on all the ingredients that are required for production of drugs locally. We cannot compete with medicines imported from India or Egypt. Those are the major competitors we have in this country. So, something should be done about taxation. You cannot say that you will reduce the cost of a drug and go ahead to levy tax on all the ingredients that are required for manufacturing that drug. The Government should do much more, if we are to have food security and help our people in the area of agriculture. Above all, the issue of floods must be sorted out once and for all in Nyanza, Baringo, Coast and North Eastern regions. That is when we will forget about the issue of food security, and deal with other matters of development. Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker."
}