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{
    "id": 670373,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/670373/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 270,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. F.K. Wanyonyi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2065,
        "legal_name": "Ferdinard Kevin Wanyonyi",
        "slug": "ferdinard-kevin-wanyonyi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I speak with a smile. It is good to have been given this opportunity to first of all thank Hon. Nyamunga for coming up with this Motion. The import of this Motion is that we need to look at the way we handle harvesting of fish. Two, there needs to be training for the people in the fishing industry. Three is the fact that handling of fish is very unhygienic. The traditional way of doing it is not the best. We are complaining about the importation of fish from China. I agree with Hon. Wanga when she gave the figures of the importation of the fish from China. At the back of my mind, I was wondering whether this is not the GMO fish. It costs Kshs30 per piece only. At the same time, we should not be complaining because we are our own enemies. His Excellency President Kibaki came to the Lake Victoria region somewhere in the year 2005 when I was the Managing Director for the Lake Basin Development Authority. He promised to set up refrigeration centres along the lake. We went round it and spotted the areas we were supposed to have the refrigeration centres. I am told there is none to date. That is 11 years after the visit of the President. Secondly, we have a stimulus programme which was started by the previous Government. The aim and objective of the stimulus programme was to offer youth a programme to have employment. Some of those youth programmes were to set up fish ponds. There were fish ponds in my area. To date, they are neglected. There is nothing going on. The ultimate aim of those fish ponds was to raise money to have some of those areas have processing plants. I was told there was going to be a fish processing plant in Kitale. We went round when I took over the leadership of my constituency. We started having fish ponds. We even had trainings. To date, there is nothing. In fact, some of them have now gone to waste. I am sure that is the case everywhere else. This is a very important Motion. We ought to take it very seriously. It is going to help us to earn foreign exchange because we will process and export the fish. I was in Israel. I was amused because 90 per cent of Israel is a desert. What happens is that they have fishponds and they export fish to other countries including Kenya? I saw it. The idea is to nurture this department. I know the Principal Secretary in the State Department of Fisheries is a very enthusiastic person. He is a world trained professor in fisheries. This Motion, if passed, should be fast-tracked and the resolutions should be taken seriously by the Department of Fisheries so that they can offer employment for our youth and have processing centres in the country to export fish. We should not complain. We are complaining because we are our own enemies instead of helping our people to set up fish processing plants. Fish farming is all over the lake region, all the way to Trans Nzoia. We have a lot of land and we can have fish farming in the rivers and ponds. Therefore, the Government needs to take this Motion very seriously and promote fish farming in these regions. With those few remarks, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I support the Motion. Let us fast-track its implementation for the Government to take it seriously and stop importation of GMO fish from China. I support the Motion. 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."
}