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{
    "id": 61762,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/61762/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 345,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Mureithi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 89,
        "legal_name": "Erastus Kihara Mureithi",
        "slug": "erastus-mureithi"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Bill. From the outset, we discussed and agreed on many issues with professionals and para- professionals in this sector. However, when we finally got the draft Bill, there were quite a number of issues which were not captured. Since 1986, those people with certificates in animal health stopped being employed. So what has emerged in the field is that many of them practice illegally. That is why this Bill was brought to harmonize both qualified veterinary doctors and para-professionals. When we went through this Bill as the Departmental Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Cooperatives, we came across many areas that need to be harmonized. One of them is Clause 35 of this Bill. The penalty which is being imposed upon those people who commit crime, particularly what we saw like today where somebody explained that the death of a woman was as a result of meningitis and another veterinary doctor said it was as a result of rabies, is quite mild. The penalty that has been imposed is quite mild; it is only Kshs50,000. Somebody may inspect meat and declare it fit for human consumption and, finally, many people die as a result of eating it. We must enhance this penalty. I would like to propose that when we discuss penalties, we come up with punitive penalty which will deter quacks from misleading our people from eating contaminated meat. This is the only way we can prevent our people from eating contaminated meat. There is a provision for raising funds for the KVB. Clause 30(2) gives the Minister a leeway to impose levies. I am proposing that they must follow the Treasury regulations as far as raising money is concerned. The Minister cannot just decide to levy people without following the Treasury rules and regulations. Imposing levies must be in line with Government regulations and the new Constitution. There are some professionals who do general agriculture. Here, I must declare my interest that I did three years of animal health in the university. However, I did not do pure animal health. Therefore, I am not allowed to practice. So there are some of those big categories. I am proposing that when we come to the Committee Stage, we shall propose that an internship programme for two years should be introduced. This is the only way we can avoid proliferation of quacks in this industry. If we could streamline this, we will make our meat clean and recover our quota market in Europe. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}