Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 467785,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/467785/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 272,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "by force. When you are a farmer you have to be trained on how to keep those animals better, then the county government pays for the same. We should also train herdsmen on how to keep animals and how to feed them. Then we can graduate to breeding grounds where we import bulls to improve on the quality of the animals. Sen (Prof.) Lesan and Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale talked about the size of animals we have today. They have become so small because of inbreeding. We also lost as a nation when we did not recruit livestock officers. We lost them due to a structural adjustment programme that was imposed on us. I would also like to say that we need to open tanneries in every county where there is an abattoir and also mechanise them. Sen. (Dr.) Kuti was the Minister for Livestock Development until last year and they came up with an innovative idea where they started four mechanised slaughterhouses. One is in West Pokot where it is still under construction. That was the money for the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP). They also did the same in Garissa and Marsabit or Isiolo. It is supposed to be used in a way that the cow walks in and comes out in all the sizes you want and the skin is processed. So, we need to have a tannery near the abattoir, so that we do not waste the skin. We can now have memorandum of understandings with neighbouring counties so that we can exchange meat directly. For example, for Trans Nzoia we can exchange it with maize. This type of arrangement also creates jobs. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we should also open up training institutions that capitalise on livestock production. The people would like this kind of programme naturally and there will be no time wasted. During campaigns when you talk about a cow, you are likely to get more votes than anybody else because it is their livelihoods. This means that governors can tap into this by paying attention to it, so that they can move to the second phase, to transform people’s lives. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, lastly, West Pokot and other counties which were believed to be drier are now turning to milk production. We now have eight cooling plants in West Pokot. So, we must move to the second phase of processing the milk. At the moment, all the milk is brought all the way to Brookside in Nairobi or to the New Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC). We want to do the way the people of Githunguri have done. There are so many farmers who have been contracted to keep these cows, then the co-operative moves around to identify the best. I want to commend the people of Lelan in West Pokot because they came to Nakuru to buy 40 bulls from the Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology so that they can go and breed their animals. This is what we need to encourage. We only have one leather processing plant in Thika. It was the only plant in East Africa until the Ethiopians came and borrowed the idea. I want to suggest that the Governors of Kiambu and Nairobi liaise with other colleagues who come from where the animals are, so that they can process this product from wet blue to a finished product. This brings us to another question; where do our shoes come from, including those for 1.5 million children in schools? Why should we buy shoes from China where they process our skin, make shoes and bring it here? Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale and I buy our shoes from Germany and Italy yet we can do it here. This is the first assignment that we can give to governors. We should not pass their budgets next year if we do not see how they are planning to improve the meat products they have in Laikipia and other places. With those remarks, I support. 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."
}