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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want also to congratulate you and the Deputy Speaker for being elected. I would like also to congratulate the Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Leader of Minority who is my party leader and my fellow Senators for being elected and nominated to this Upper House. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Constitution bestows upon us the noble responsibility of protecting the interests of counties and their governments. I am glad that the President has reaffirmed repeatedly his commitment to devolution. I urge that he remains steadfast, knowing that there could be those in the Executive who may not wish to let go the powers of centralization of resources. They may wish to do so, using all means legal and, otherwise, to stifle devolution. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Kenyans have a lot of expectations and are optimistic that the Senate will make a difference this time in the delivery of services. It is our duty to deliver. In doing so, we should be honest with ourselves and bipartisan, the way I have heard since we started talking about this issue. We have talked about bipartisanism and I have listened to every contributor extolling the fact that we should be bipartisan. But I got worried when the pet subject of laptops for pupils came up. I could almost predict on which side every Member who rose to contribute would be. That is not being bipartisan. It is not possible that two great divides, we can all have uniform views. Mr. Speaker, Sir, most of the issues that have been expounded in the President’s Speech are for the betterment of the lives of Kenyans. Most of them are not new and have been made before by Presidents and other leaders, and it is unfortunate that they had never been realized. I hope that this time round, we shall be committed to make sure that they are implemented. We hope that the President will lead, and we shall follow, to ensure that these ideals are implemented within the resources that are available. Mr. Speaker, Sir, one of the issues that have been raised here is modernization of agriculture. The President in his Speech said that we want to be a middle-income country. We can never be a middle-income country if we cannot feed ourselves. There was a time that this country could feed itself, but over the years, our production in agriculture has not matched the population growth. Therefore, every year, we are unable to feed ourselves. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I come from an agricultural county, Trans-Nzoia, which is considered as the granary of the country. We produce one-third of the maize that is consumed in this country. But farmers have been left on their own and are not able to produce. The high cost of inputs, low prices of produce, disjointed policies, late procurement of fertilizers--- For example, right now fertilizer is being supplied, yet most farmers have already planted. Most farmers went to the market and bought expensive fertilizer. Others are getting cheaper fertilizer now at the end. So, delayed procurement of inputs is causing inequality, which I think is also unconstitutional. Since we know the weather and seasons, we should procure fertilizer on time. Mr. Speaker, Sir, there are issues of affordable credit. Farmers in Trans Nzoia who supplied maize during the last season have not been paid up to now yet when there is shortage of food the foreign farmer is paid in advance. The letter of commitment is prepared in advance before the ship is loaded. Are we being fair to our farmers? Trans Nzoia produces maize, but unfortunately for all these years, there is not even a single mill to mill that maize. There is something wrong. 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."
}