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{
    "id": 47083,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/47083/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 381,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Ndambuki",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Agriculture",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 191,
        "legal_name": "Gideon Musyoka Ndambuki",
        "slug": "gideon-ndambuki"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am also asking the hon. Members to start sensitizing their people not to sell their shares to anybody and keep them for themselves. Because even if we say that 51 per cent will be owned by the farmers, we cannot prevent the farmers from selling their shares. But if they sell such shares and they are bought by a group of people, that means that mill will be privately owned by that group. So, we need to sensitize our people not to sell those shares to foreigners. I would like to support the suggestion by the Assistant Minister for Co-operative Development and Marketing; that farmers should go the co-operative way. Farmers should form co-operatives, instead of signing on as out-grower farmers for a factory. Signing on as farmers is not the same as being in a co-operative society, where they will move together and have an office. They can negotiate with those factories. We need to go the co-operatives way, if we want to get out of this situation. We have spent a lot of money in the sugar-cane industry. Already, from 2008/2009, 2009/2010 up to now, we have given out more than Kshs800 million for cane development. That is through the Agricultural Finance Co-operation (AFC) and Equity Bank. We cannot see where that money ends up. That is why many sugar factories have huge many debts. Some of them are not making anything. We have invested a lot of money in cane research. New high yield, early maturing seeds will be released in the market. Those are some of the things we are doing. They have been giving us a lot of problems. We did not have seeds but now, we can say that we have high quality seeds. On co-generation, it is true that most factories have not been considering the by- products when they pay farmers. They have not been doing that. In this new Act, that will be considered. I would like to say that the Ministry is supporting this Report. We will incorporate everything in the Bill. The Bill will come to this House and I would like hon. Members to participate and push the Finance, Trade and Planning Committee plus the Treasury to deal with the privatization issue, so that we can move on."
}