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{
    "id": 664320,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/664320/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 109,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Waluke",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2792,
        "legal_name": "John Waluke Koyi",
        "slug": "john-waluke-koyi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me a chance to speak on this Bill, which has been brought by my neighbour, Hon. Wafula Wamunyinyi. It is a good Bill and I support it as it is although it has delayed. Farmers in this country have really suffered. This is the time for the Government to come out clearly on the issue of not only sugarcane farmers but all the farmers in this country, be it maize, sugarcane, coffee, pyrethrum or tea farmers. The Government must come out and give them support. I also want to thank the Government. In as much as we blame them, we must in one way or the other thank them where they have done well. On the issue of subsidizing fertilizers, it has helped the farmers in the last three years. The prices of fertilizers have gone down. We used to buy fertilizer for Kshs3,000 per 50-kilogramme bag but we are now buying it at Kshs1,500 for the same bag. We, therefore, thank the Government for coming up with that initiative. I always ask myself why the price of sugar in Brazil or Egypt is cheaper than in this country. You find that the price of sugar that has been shipped from Brazil to Kenya is two times cheaper than locally produced sugar. The problem is taxes. The Government of Kenya must come out clearly on the issue of taxation of fuel. If we are being taxed six shillings more on a litre of fuel, that goes down to the poor farmer, who should not be taxed further. Everybody who drives in this country is being taxed through the fuel levy. Somebody who drives a car pays around Kshs16 per litre of fuel. Farmers should therefore not be taxed to enable them transport their sugarcane from the farms to the factory; otherwise, this is where the poor farmer loses. This sometimes affects production by the factories, causing the farmer to wait for about a year before being paid. The farmer has children to feed and educate yet they do not get paid in time to provide their families with basic needs. So, the Bill that Hon. Wamunyinyi has brought to the House is very important to all farmers in this country. In Ruiru, many farmers are uprooting coffee and selling their farms to people to build houses instead. The Kenyan coffee is liked all over the world. We are losing some of the commodities that this country needs to retain, just because of taxation. I fully support this Bill and thank Hon. Wamunyinyi for bringing it to the House."
}