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{
    "id": 527559,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/527559/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 231,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "pass a Bill like this. I am surprised that some of these clauses were not deleted by the National Assembly. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I proposed an amendment to paragraph 19. They are proposed to amend sub-section 19 to replace the words “Kshs3,000 appearing in sub- section (ii) with Kshs1,000,000. What would be the reason for creating these penalties? This is the reason; only the barons of this country can afford this money. The people who engage in agriculture in this country are the poorest. When you put a fine like this one as proposed in Section 19, it is an attempt to stifle people. It is an attempt to scare everybody to death because there is a punitive fine of Kshs1,000,000 from Kshs3,000. If you look at the principal Act, the purpose of Section 19 was clear. The rules made hereunder may provide for penalties for breach not exceeding a fine of Kshs3,000 or imprisonment for a term of three months or both. What is the reason? In the memorandum of objects and reason, there is no reason given for why we should increase a fine from Kshs3,000 to Kshs1,000,000. Again, this is mischief. Madam Temporary Speaker, what was the purpose of this Bill so that we attempt to amend it to create a board? The question would be whether Parliament in total would be moving away from the preamble and the object of this Act. For the record, I would read:- “Act of Parliament to regulate the importation, manufacture and sale of agricultural fertiliser and animal foodstuffs and substances of animal original intended for the manufacture of such fertiliser and foodstuff and to provide for matters incidental to and connected in the fore-going.” It was not to centralize animal foodstuffs in a board created and sitting in Nairobi getting funds as proposed in this Bill where they are supposed to be paid allowances. It would be a fundamental error to do so in an era in where state corporations in Kenya have failed in total. We are attempting to create another state corporation despite that. The Government is on record that there is a crisis. In attempt to reduce the expenses and duplication of roles by parastatals, the Government is attempting to merge or scrap some of the parastatals. This Bill is attempting to create yet another parastatal called the Fertiliser Board of Kenya. The record of whatever boards; pyrethrum, coffee or tea boards is clear and I do not need to elaborate. Those boards have failed farmers and it is not a wonder that one of the reasons we now discovered in our Committee for Finance, Commerce and Budget why the shilling is going down and interests have gone up is because of tea prices. The problem with tea prices is because of the Tea Board of Kenya. It is a history that is continuous. Everybody is now contemplating cutting their coffee bushes; the reason, Coffee Board of Kenya. These are the reasons why the shilling is suffering today. This is one of those things that should be put in a museum like the dinosaurs because going back to this sort of thing is an attempt to create poverty while this Senate is trying to create wealth in the counties. In Makueni, people are substituting their coffee for macadamia because it is paying more. Why are we trying to reinvent the wheel when it has already been invented? This is one of those Bills that we should reject as quickly as we can. When they suggest that we should create an inter-governmental body consisting of Council of Government and people at the national level, you are just in another attempt 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"
}