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{
    "id": 542804,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/542804/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 238,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Dr.) Oginga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 194,
        "legal_name": "Oburu Ngona Odinga",
        "slug": "oburu-odinga"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me an opportunity to contribute to this important Motion. The history of the sugar industry dates back to the Independence days in the early 19th Century. The various sugar factories in this country have different histories. They are not the same. Even the history of acquisition of land in respect to these factories is not the same. When hon. Dalmas spoke about acquiring land for the factories where people had already got title deeds and the people were quiet for purposes of the sugar industries, that was in respect of the SONY Sugar Factory and may be one or two others. If you look at the history of Miwani Sugar Company, it was acquired in the early 1920s. When it was acquired, the ownership of the land belonged to the communities, but there were no title deeds in those years. The Government did an alienation of the land, which was then given to private developers to develop a sugar factory. When the Sugar Company was in the hands of these private developers, it did very well. There were out- grower farmers. However, the factory acquired a huge nuclear estate of about 10,000 acres. When the factory was being run by a private developer; a Kenyan of Indian origin, it was run very efficiently and the farmers used to gain and benefit from the factory. Payments to the farmers were very prompt. By the 15th of every month, farmers were paid. However, when the Asian, who had invested in the company migrated to Canada, the factory reverted to some crooks who invited the Government to join and invest with malicious intentions. The invitation of the Government to buy shares in this factory was meant to milk money from the Government. From those years, the Government has been forced to pay money, either through the Kenya Sugar Board or through foregoing collection of taxes due to the Government like the Value Added Tax (VAT). That has accumulated into billions of debt. The amendment, which we have just passed, raises questions which I do not know how we are going to resolve."
}