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{
    "id": 719643,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/719643/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 274,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Oyoo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2408,
        "legal_name": "James Onyango Oyoo",
        "slug": "james-onyango-oyoo"
    },
    "content": "to be sourced from technocrats outside. This was for two reasons. The intention was very good. One was to alleviate the fear of corruption because the Cabinet Secretaries who were coming in were technocrats who had no burden on their backs; they were technocrats who had no loyalty; they would not demand employment for their voters; they were not coming in to look for money for Harambee because they do not have to do Harambees . But, the crop of the Cabinet Secretaries we got in the 11th Parliament, God forbid, we leave it to the Jubilee Government which is in power to go and assess their scorecard, whether this is what the Constitution intended. After we rejected the Bill in this House, I have seen a situation where any intention of privatisation must bring on board public participation and county governments. After we left here, the Privatisation Commission which did not have enough Members called us, stakeholders of the sugar industries intended for privatisation to a hurriedly arranged meeting in Mombasa. While we were going to Mombasa to engage them – even the Governors and the Senators of stakeholders were called - the same Privatisation Commission engaged the public behind our backs where the sugar industries are. When we posed this question in Mombasa, they told us: “No. We had already arranged and it was difficult to demobilise them. So, that is just there for that purpose.” Later on we realised that the group that went to our sugar industries’ zones met officials of the Privatisation Commission. The deliberations were taken as official and were being used. When we insisted that we must be brought on and the question of land investigated, adjudicated and deliberated on properly, the next thing we saw is that a new commission was appointed with members who did not meet the constitutional threshold. Either, females were fewer than the constitutional requirements or regional balancing was not done properly. They are there. So, I am afraid. I want to oppose these amendments whose sole intention, the way I am reading it, is to facilitate privatisation of the sugar industry. I am fearful because behind the back of my electorates are serious sugar industries that are going on now, albeit with many challenges. I realise that certain important people in this land are interested in buying these sugar industries for a song. I can see that in the 10th Parliament a way was done where the giant Chemelil Sugar Company was undervalued; where Muhoroni Sugar Company was undervalued despite the huge nucleus farms and Chemelil was supposed to be a holding ground. Muhoroni was supposed to be a minor company. My reading is that somebody serious who is pushing these Bills and creating the Privatisation Commission is interested in acquiring these things for a song so that he can take Chemelil, take the big nucleus farms, take Muhoroni for a song and sell it to private partners at a colossal amount of money. That has happened in Kenya. Somebody, some famous Asian was given an opportunity to buy the--- What do you call it, is it Telkom, Safaricom? The other one?"
}