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{
    "id": 47070,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/47070/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 368,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Konchella",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 322,
        "legal_name": "Gideon Sitelu Konchella",
        "slug": "gideon-konchella"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is no need for us, as leaders and legislators, to mourn just like farmers. We must make a difference and we must ensure that our farmers do not mourn because of the law that is not providing for their needs. In one particular issue, if we are talking about the issue of the Government divesting from industries like Mumias Sugar and other Government-owned parastatals, the ownerships of these institutions should be 50 per cent Kenyans. We do not want people to come from other parts of the world and own our wealth while we remain poor. This is the only way we can eradicate poverty in our country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to echo what hon. Kilimo said on the issue of co-operatives. In my constituency, we are now growing sugar-cane. We expect to have a private sugar factory by the end of this year. We want to ensure that both investors and farmers benefit. So, one of the areas that I want the Minister to seriously look into is the issue of bonuses for farmers. It is not just about getting money and waiting for another one year; when a company produces power, surely, a certain percentage of the income out of that process should go to the farmer. So, we want the law to indicate how much the farmer will get in terms of bonuses at the end of the year from sugar-cane. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with regard to the Kenya Sugar Board (KSB), I would like them to, not only embrace directly giving money to farmers, but they should also help in terms of facilitating farmers to get subsidized fertilizer and giving equipment. This can only be done economically if these things are done through a co-operative. So, I would encourage the Ministry to actually set up co-operatives all over sugar-cane growing areas in terms of viable entities which will help farmers access loans or facilities from the KSB, so that they can buy subsidized fertilizers and other inputs. This is the only way they can control the cost of production. We want our farmers to benefit so that we eradicate poverty in this country. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}