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{
    "id": 619829,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/619829/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 320,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Shimbwa",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1345,
        "legal_name": "Omar Mwinyi Shimbwa",
        "slug": "omar-mwinyi-shimbwa"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. The Report we are debating is very important, but I have to summarise due to scarcity of time. All what you have heard here is an indicator that a certain organisation is failing. Without mincing words, it is the Government that is failing. We have seen research land being given out. It means that the Government is not serious on research. Farms like ADC farms where farming activities used to be demonstrated are all gone. If you go to Mtwapa, all the land that was used for research has already been allocated to people. We used to be told that agriculture was the backbone of the economy, but we do not see that anymore. We do not know what the backbone of our economy is. Maybe it is the mega projects that we have in the country. In all developed countries, we have zoning of projects. There are areas which deal with industries while others deal with agriculture. Over the years, we have seen marginalisation of places like Ukambani where every year, people used to be given relief food. Nowadays, people are almost ready to export food to neighbouring counties. There were deliberate attempts to enslave certain areas of this nation to impoverish them and make them subservient to the political empires of this country. That should be addressed as a serious problem. As I stand here, I know very well that a single entity of a sugar factory can employ not less than 20,000 people directly and indirectly. So, when we deliberately kill such a factory by any means like what we have been speaking about here, we are looking at 20,000 jobs lost. This trend is not just in the sugar industry. The Kenya Petroleum Refinery in Changamwe was closed and many jobs were lost. In Kilifi, the cashewnut factory was closed and jobs were lost as well. In Kwale, there was the Ramisi Sugar Factory and in Kisumu, the Kisumu Cotton Mills (KICOMI). These were deliberate attempts by the previous Governments to kill the economies of these regions to enslave them politically. Kenya has the capacity to be the powerhouse in this region, but we are now competing with countries like Ethiopia and Tanzania, which were junior members at Independence as we were taking off. We should call a spade a spade. When the Executive is participating in business with the Government, let us not expect anything good out of it. That is why until this day, we have never seen oil prices coming down in Kenya yet we were told that refining oil at the refinery in Changamwe was making it expensive. To date, we have not seen any price difference. Certain people are engaged in importation of crude oil, just the same as sugar. In fact, sugar barons acting as cartels are fixing the price of sugar in this country. Even sugar millers wait for these cartels to fix sugar prices and then they follow suit. This means that locally produced sugar can be cheap. It is known to everybody that most sugar importers do not pay taxes. What is happening in the case of Container Freight Stations (CFS) is victimisation. There are people who are in this business, but because they are in the right side of the Government, they will never be seen. 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."
}