Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 526433,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/526433/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 265,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the example I gave is not only reminiscent of Mombasa County; it is everywhere. Come to Nairobi and see who the biggest voters are; it is the people who dwell in slums and informal settlements, so-to-speak, yet we have hardly taken the progressive steps to give them dignity. When we talk about these roads, I see Kenyans who are some of the wealthiest in the world, when they travel from one town to another – I hold nothing against them – stopping by the roadside to buy potatoes and other farm produce principally because it is so much cheaper than when it comes to Nakumatt and other prestigious supermarkets. Even as we hear – for lack of a better word – it is Kshs500 by random price – you will always bargain and say Kshs200 or you will even attempt to leave. The poor peasant will then give you farm produce that you would have bought in Nakumatt or other places for much more. I think we are a very barbaric society; rather than you looking at the market so that you can give people that honor and that dignity, you try to always fleece even the poor. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as we move into the substance of this Bill, for me, I will just raise very few issues. We address the Constitution as ‘Articles’ and we address normal legislation as ‘Sections’ and so, Section 3(e) for me is the principal section which addresses the issue of enhancing productivity and income for potato farmers. There is a myth that has been created in this country that people who hail from certain communities are wealthy. It is true that, maybe, there are a few people who are wealthy in all our respective communities. If you drive, for example, from Nairobi to Eldoret, you will encounter the land where the two communities which are said to be holding power live. My first drive along that route was when I was reporting to Moi University and, for the first time, I drove from Nairobi to Eldoret. I had gotten all these stereotypes about what the first and the second Presidents had done for their people, but I drove through appalling poverty that I cannot believe. The men and women who sell these potatoes are people who are desperate. When you get to the hinterlands of Eldoret and the Rift Valley Province, as it was referred to then, I did not see the kind of development and the kind of stereotypes that had been created; that there were so many roads that even cattle slept on them. It was untrue. We need to have pro-poor policies that protect the poor people. The poor people include the farmers. We brag to be a nation of farmers but I see quite a number of those who call themselves farmers actually poor, apart from the brokers and those who hold large unqualified land for farming in the different areas. Therefore, in this Act of Parliament, I want to see an Amendment here so that the purpose of this Bill is set out at the very outset so that we bring the people who Sen. Murungi talked about as our principal stakeholders way up into the objects of this Bill or into the purpose of this Act. It is an Act of Parliament to establish the National Potato Council to promote quality and standards. It is to protect the farmers and to ensure whatever else that the drafts people know how best to capture this. This is so that immediately somebody reads this law, he knows that the basic purpose and object of this law is that poor man. When Sen. (Eng.) Muriuki was drafting this law, I am sure the person he had in his mind is that poor person who has been exploited time and again and who is unable to pay fees for his children, put decent food on his table and meet some of the most basic 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."
}