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{
    "id": 521159,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/521159/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 213,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kimaru",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2072,
        "legal_name": "Anthony Mutahi Kimaru",
        "slug": "anthony-mutahi-kimaru"
    },
    "content": "lot of electricity reaching the people. The reason is that Government is not very business- minded. It is not motivated by that particular aspect of trying to maximize profit and reduce costs. Government, any time, is a spendthrift and is good at spending money. When it comes to business, the Government will not spend money in the best manner possible. With regard to electrification, when private entrepreneurs were allowed to do this, they did it efficiently. If you were to rely on KPLC to have electricity brought to your house, it will take dog years. When you have a private contractor doing that, he will want to do it in a day and get done with it. When you look at KCC it never functioned. Talking about the KFA, you would never have seeds and fertilizers on time and nobody would really care. Today, as we speak, I had an opportunity to try and rehabilitate boreholes in my area. If you are to use Government agencies, it would cost you three times more what it would cost you were you to engage a private entrepreneur. Do you think you are cutting costs using Government? People ask for large allowances! An operator will ask for Kshs7,000 per diem and make sure that it takes forever to do that job. The same kind of job is done by private people in the shortest time possible. When we look at privatisation, it might be a blessing in disguise. Let us not worry that privatisation is coming because with it we will have efficiency and farmers will be paid on time. With the coming up of Brookside and other companies, rarely are farmers not paid on time. So, we have to cut this cycle of delayed payments, inefficiency and mismanagement. When we look at Government corporations, what ails us the most is our own doing which is corruption. It is a fact that people who have been managing these companies were involved in the importation of cheap sugar. They repackaged it, sold it and became billionaires overnight. They have been in cahoots with traders in the sugar industry and when sugar was produced in the industries it was being sold at throw-away prices. They would also cut deals outside. So, let us not talk of these industries being the main problem. The management has been the problem. Even the political will has been lacking. I do not think a few commoners out there can steal billions without anybody seeing them or taking note. It means that the loot has been shared across board. People have been made to keep silent because they are beneficiaries of this corruption. So, privatisation might be the panacea for these ailments that afflict the sugar industry. I also believe that innovation is the way to go. If other places are growing sugarcane varieties that mature within six months or thereabout and we are still relying on sugarcane varieties that take about two years, something is wrong. We also need to diversify our businesses so that we do not only produce sugar. There are other by- products that can be produced and make this industry more profitable. In terms of technology that is used, we also need to embrace new technology. I do not know how much electricity the sugar companies produce. That is also another avenue. When something does not really work as the sugar factories do today, you must do something. The sugar companies have so far accumulated losses to the tune of Kshs58 billion. If it was your own business, you would not allow it to continue. You make losses year in, year out. It is like a bottomless pit that is not about to fill any time soon. You are in quick sand and yet you continue digging and falling deeper and deeper into debt. It is about time this thing was fixed once and for all. 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."
}