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{
    "id": 737812,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/737812/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 65,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kubai Iringo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1574,
        "legal_name": "Cyprian Kubai Iringo",
        "slug": "cyprian-kubai-iringo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity. First and foremost, let me congratulate you for the exercise which happened just the other day and I pray that you will be the next Governor of Bomet and the first lady governor in this country. Having said that, let me support my colleague, Hon. Ochieng for having brought this Bill, which tries to bring some corrections or do some remedies as far as trade is concerned. The Bill also puts in the legal framework for the protection of the domestic industries and also oversees the unfair trading practises, especially with our superpowers or those other countries which have more than they require and us who have less than we require. This Bill is timely because it is going to protect local industries from the onslaught they are getting from what we import especially the domestic industries and the agricultural sector, where we thrive most. In the process of protecting these industries, we will end up creating more jobs in our country. We shall also be able to utilise most of the resources we have. It will further help curb dumping because we are importing some items which are really not up to standard and which have been rejected in their countries of origin. An example is mitumba which are dumped here. Some clothes are brought here in big bales. Once they land here, some of them are sold but they are not worn for long because they were already used wherever they came from. At the end of the day, others are dumped here and we have nowhere to take them. We have had cases where vehicles have been imported into this country and they are brought in dozens. Most of them end up just rotting in Mombasa or when they get up to up- country they are used for a short period because they had already outlived their purpose in their countries of origin. Dumping has also caused collapse of our industries. When we were in school many years back, we used to have Rivatex. It used to produce clothes like school uniforms and uniforms for our disciplined forces, which were being sold everywhere. It was employing many people. We also had Mount Kenya Textiles which was based in Nanyuki. We also had KICOMI in Kisumu. All these are dead. They were using sisal as their raw material. We had a lot of sisal at the coast and other parts of the country. These firms are now neglected. We are crying that we do not have jobs and land for farming and other activities, but it is us who have not put our priorities right. We have neglected a very important industry like the clothing industry. I commend the Government for bringing back motor vehicle assembly lines to the country because if we assemble more vehicles locally, we need to import less and make sure that we sell more of our products. This one will also create more jobs and increase our revenue. We have another constraint, especially on the production cost because most manufacturers, entrepreneurs or investors will go where the production cost is low. In Kenya, we have problems with our production cost because of the raw materials and other inputs. For example, power is very expensive in Kenya and I do not know why. We need to check on the production cost of these items so that when we sell them, they compete well with the products which are coming from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East Africa or even from Europe and other places. Therefore, if we bring the cost of production down, at the end of the day, we shall produce more and we shall market not only within but even without. With this protection law, we can get industries which will add value to our products. Instead of selling raw coffee for it to come back as Nescafe or with another name, we can add value to that product, sell more and create more employment opportunities. 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."
}