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{
    "id": 521132,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/521132/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 186,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Ombaka",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1007,
        "legal_name": "Christine Oduor Ombaka",
        "slug": "christine-oduor-ombaka"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving this opportunity to contribute to this problem of the sugar industry. First and foremost, I realise that the five industries that we are talking about here come from one region. The decisions that we are going to make on the privatisation of that sub-sector must be efficient. We have to be sure that privatisation is going to work and that the region will not be economically disempowered. If we make any mistake in privatising this industry that is concentrated in one region, then that region is going to be disempowered. It is going to be the poorest area because those are the only industries that exist in the area. I am talking about Nyanza Province. There, we had the cotton industry, which collapsed and has remained collapsed to this day. Now, the surviving ones are the sugar industries which are actually showing signs of collapsing. Already, they have collapsed. I agree. The only way to salvage them is to privatise them. However, are we sure that privatisation is an answer? If it is, then, perhaps, we should give privatisation a chance. In trying to privatise those industries, I would wish that the local people who have contributed a lot to the industry in terms of being farmers there should be sorted out. A lot of them are crying foul. They are crying that they have lost a lot. They have never been paid or reimbursed. They are actually poor because they were farmers. In trying to privatise, it is important that we first consider their cases, ensure that they are refunded, paid back their money and then they will be happy to move on with privatisation. It is unfortunate that Kenya is the way it is. We kill our own industries and then we begin to privatise them. You cannot import sugar when you know that you have sugarcane farmers in your country and you have industries that you need to develop. You cannot do that when you want to empower your people economically. To import sugar means that you do not have a single drop of sugar. That means that you now have to The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}