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"content": "Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, during the last financial year in my county, it was revealed that even farmers in Homa Bay County had received fertilisers and seed under the Government subsidy programme. When we went to the ground, it was quite difficult to ascertain the farmers who had benefited from the programme. So, if we want to create a greater visibility and effect on fertiliser subsidies, then, this should be done at the county level rather than at the national level. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as we do this, we must also think through new innovations. For example, the warehouse receipting system is an issue that has been discussed for a very long time. We hope that county committees that have been proposed in the Bill will also be drivers of warehouse receipt systems, where we will commercialize the holdings of our farmers. For too long, our farmers have been keeping their maize in warehouses without a proper framework for warehouse receipts. Maize, wheat or rice kept in a godown somewhere cannot be commoditised and introduced into the money economy. So, we hope that with the county committees, it will serve as an entry point for warehouse receipting systems at the county level. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you are going to push further functions to the county level, we will then have to ask ourselves how we should provide funding to the counties to undertake some of these activities. We need to know whether county cereals and produce committees will be funded through the bureaucracy; that is, the NCPB or whether we should look at a situation where we will provide additional allocation to the counties to undertake some of the actions. In the past, we have looked at audit reports coming out of the Auditor-General’s Office on the NCPB. Many of us still remember the maize scandal that came up in the Grand Coalition Government. There was also one of the past audit reports about 40,000 metric tonnes of maize that was ordered but was not delivered and that occasioned a loss of Kshs730 million on the part of the NCPB. That must have been in 2004. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it would, perhaps, be much more orderly and effective if we were to allocate funds for acquisition of some of the grain stock directly to the counties instead of going back to the bureaucracy that has been proven to be broken in the past. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to conclude my support for this Bill by bringing up an issue that is captured in our Standing Order No.130. According to the Standing Order, it is expected that after the First Reading of a Bill, the Bill shall be committed to a committee and public participation. As we speak, it is not clear whether this particular Bill has gone through public participation before its Second Reading. We need to be a little bit more rigorous as an institution to ensure that we do not break our own Standing Orders because this is an important Bill which is quite straightforward. I believe that public participation on it will largely be positive. However, that does not give us any reason to defy our Standing Order which says that before the Second Reading, every Bill must have gone through public participation. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not want to talk about what is before a committee. However, as a Member of the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, I can confirm that the public participation on this amendment Bill has not happened and it has been scheduled to be undertaken tomorrow. I, therefore, call upon this institution that we The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}