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{
    "id": 737787,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/737787/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 40,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Odanga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2286,
        "legal_name": "Geoffrey Makokha Odanga",
        "slug": "geoffrey-makokha-odanga"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Kenya Trade Remedies Bill as brought to the House by Hon. David Ochieng, the Member of Parliament for the great people Ugenya. This Bill is long overdue. We have seen our manufacturing industrial sector suffer a great deal. Right from the time of the agrarian revolution and the industrial revolution, we saw great countries that became so industrialised like Germany, France and Britain making great efforts to ensure that their industries were protected and that the goods which were being produced in their countries did not face undue competition from other parts of the world, so that their industries and economies could grow. Even at Independence up to around the 1980s, our industrial sector was flourishing and doing very well. As the Mover of the Bill has already mentioned, the textile industry was doing very well in this country. People in regions like Western, Nyanza and the Coast were producing cotton and there were factories all over. Our people were employed and were, therefore, able to cater for their needs. They were also able to export. Imports are still allowed in any country against consideration of the exports being done. But where the imports far outweigh the exports, it then brings in a lot of imbalances and cannot be very good for a growing country like Kenya. For that matter, the issue of dumping, as already cited, should be checked so that locally-produced goods do not face unfair competition from goods being brought into the country in form of imports. The prices must be checked. As such, I support the idea that such goods and items have to be taxed to ensure that the locally-produced goods can compete favourably. Sugar-cane growing has been a big talk in this country for quite a long time. This sector that was the mainstay for quite a number of people in the sugar producing zones of Western, Nyanza, parts of the Rift Valley and the Coast. All those factories have gone to the dogs. The production is low. I do not think the factories that are coming up are intended for production of sugar. I look at it as if they are being constructed for purposes of getting cheap imports from 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."
}