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{
    "id": 47001,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/47001/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 299,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Pesa",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 134,
        "legal_name": "John Dache Pesa",
        "slug": "john-pesa"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir that is very relevant and adds a lot of flesh to what I was talking about. In the case of Mumias, of course, the farms still belong to the farmers. So, there is no problem in that area. However, in areas where farms were sold, we will make sure that farmers who gave their farms for free are considered as part and parcel of the factories. In so doing, we will invite other developers or investors to come to the belts and own 49 per cent of what we have. It should not be more than 50 per cent. For you to have any voice, you must have the number of shares that can give you a voice. That is why we are saying that we should facilitate farmers by considering the land laws. Hon. Members should assist them to get funds or loans to ensure that they own 51 per cent of the factories that are going to be sold in the near future. When we come to the cost of sugarcane, as the Chairman has very eloquently said, we are considering the actual weight of the sugarcane. However, there are other by- products that the farmers should be paid for. For example, if SONY takes sugarcane from farmers, that factory produces other by-products. In the case of SONY, we have molasses. That is sold out secretly without the farmers benefiting from that by-product. In other areas, the factories have even produced electricity. Why can the farmer not benefit from that by-product? We are saying that in future, when we talk about the sugarcane price, we must also consider the by-products that go with it. The 2001 Sugar Act is now obsolete and we will be introducing the new Act. We want the Minister to speed up the process, so that the Act can come and complement what we are talking about today. The old Act is what has made farmers to remain poor. It has made them to be the way they are today. I am requesting the Minister to speed up and bring that Bill, so that we can make the relevant changes. Still on sugarcane, if you go to SONY, we have a lot of money that is lying idle in the field. It is about Kshs2.8 billion worth of sugar that has not been harvested. If the sugarcane was harvested, the poor farmer down there would take his children to school. The poor farmer down there will cloth himself and, probably, buy himself a car as the Chairman was saying earlier on."
}