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{
    "id": 674946,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/674946/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 57,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mulu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1955,
        "legal_name": "Benson Makali Mulu",
        "slug": "benson-makali-mulu"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, thank you very much for giving me a chance. I know you believe I can only contribute to finance matters, but I have told you many times that at times you get to a level where you can contribute to anything because you can research and get the right things to say. I want to support this Motion by Hon. Rose Nyamunga. The other day, I was looking at the newspapers and a potential competitor of Hon. Rose Nyamunga was saying that the Member does not champion the interests of the people she represents in this House. I want the person who wrote that article to look at this Motion and see clearly that Hon. Rose Nyamunga is a serious champion of the interests of the people she represents, namely, the people of Kisumu County. The livelihoods of the people of Kisumu very much depend on fishing. I support this Motion. If you look at the fishing industry in this country and how much it contributes to our Gross National Product (GNP), it is a sector which cannot be ignored. It is a sector which needs to be supported seriously. Look at the number of Kenyans who are employed in this sector. If you go to the coastal area where we have the Indian Ocean, many young Kenyans derive their livelihood from fishing. When you go to Kisumu or around Lake Turkana, it is the same story. What we require is value addition. We need to think of a system of making sure that we support the people who are involved in this important sector to improve their income. This Motion is quite important because it is urging the Government to establish fishing training institutions and fish processing plants. We all know that fish gets rotten very fast. Once we have these fish processing plants, we can come up with cooling plants so that at the end of the day, people who have fish do not sell it at a throw-away price because they have no storage facilities. Fish processing plants will make sure that we store the fish properly. As we process the fish, we add value. This will increase the price of fish and help Kenyans to get better incomes. We are all aware that about three years ago, the Government set aside, through Parliament, a lot of resources to establish fish ponds all over the country. That is why I am saying we should not be surprised when we see somebody from Kitui contributing on matters to do with fish farming. We have established quite a number of fish ponds in Kitui. For the first time, the Kamba community is eating fish. Emerging diseases in the world today require people to eat less red meat and more white meat. The fact that we are all being advised by doctors and medical experts to eat white meat, this Motion is important to all Kenyans and not only to the fish-producing areas. You need to access fish where you live, so that you can avoid red meat. The other important thing is the issue of training. We should train our young people as proposed by this Motion. This requires that we have training institutions all over the country especially in key areas like the Coast, Kisumu, Lake Turkana and other areas where fishing is practised. This will go a long way in ensuring that people have the right skills. With the right skills, they will be able to handle fish in a better way and get better returns. The other day, I was very surprised to see in the media that we import a lot of fish from China. Majority of other countries are promoting their domestic production while we seem to be 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."
}