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{
    "id": 736597,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/736597/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 230,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Ombaka",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1007,
        "legal_name": "Christine Oduor Ombaka",
        "slug": "christine-oduor-ombaka"
    },
    "content": "system that does not support farmers. That is why the agriculture sector is failing. People are getting tired and are just waiting to be supported by leaders. My question has always been: Do we need to subsidise fertilisers and seeds? Can we not give them free of charge? Is it possible to do that? If it is possible, let us go ahead and give people free fertilisers and seeds, so that they can use them on their farms. What is subsidised goes through many different routes and does not reach the common person. It does not. There are so many ways of making money in between that at the end of the day, seeds and fertilisers do not reach the farmers. Our farmers are not farming and so, there is no food and we will continue that way. I believe subsidising has been a good thing, but it does not seem to be working. We should just go straight ahead and give farmers free seeds and fertilisers just like we give free medical care and education - if they are ever free, anyway. You can never attain food sufficiency if you do not support farmers. Our country is known for corruption all over. A corruption scandal emerges after another and we have a series of them. When you are corrupt, do not expect good things. You are using money badly. What you need to buy is being given to the wrong people. People are misappropriating public funds and robbing this country. This affects many things. It has several effects. There are consequences of mismanaging funds. On Labour Day, I heard the President say that the minimum wage should be increased by 18 per cent. You can increase salaries, but if there is no food, the increase will not help. What will you buy with the money you get as salary increase when there is no food to buy from the market? We may increase salaries by 18 per cent, but how will the increment help if there is no food to buy with that money? Today, nurses are going on strike once more after doctors were on strike the other day. Why do we have a series of problems that deal with money anyway? What is a salary if you cannot get it? What is a salary if you get it but what you buy with that money is not there? We are playing a big game that is so difficult to understand that even if we pass laws in this House with this great looking Bill, whether it will be implemented is another thing altogether. We lack implementation more than anything else. We have very good laws in this country that we make in this House now and again. This is another bit that we are trying to improve, but this is paperwork. What we do in Parliament is paperwork. What is critical is on the ground. We may come up with Bills saying that we can improve this and that and increase taxes on proceeds of betting, but if we do not implement that, we are wasting time. I want us to have a situation where there is full implementation of our laws. Otherwise, we just sing for five years and nothing will work. I really sympathise with this country and our people who are going hungry. We are all going hungry anyway, but the people who are suffering more are our constituents in villages. They have no jobs. When you increase the minimum wage by 18 per cent, they have nothing to be increased because they have never been employed. We should start from there. We should create job opportunities for our people and equip them with skills to do these jobs. We used to have extension officers in the agriculture sector, whom I do not see anymore. These are the people who should be helping farmers to farm better through the use of modern farming technologies and skills. We do not see them anymore. Why can we not also start from there? Where are extension workers to help our people in the villages to farm better and plant proper seeds which enhance their production? The Government wishes to improve the standard of living for our people, but there is little action towards this. You have heard what has been said about the sugar industry. The sugar, 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."
}