Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 737838,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/737838/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 91,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. F.K. Wanyonyi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2065,
        "legal_name": "Ferdinard Kevin Wanyonyi",
        "slug": "ferdinard-kevin-wanyonyi"
    },
    "content": "At one stage, we encouraged Kenyans to consume local products. There was this slogan saying “Buy Kenya, Build Kenya.” That again disappeared. We are now importing, for example, basic food products like maize and sugar. It is just because we are careless as a country. I must admit we have been careless as a country. One, we import the inputs of these products too late and yet most of the time, we rely on rains. Our agriculture is basically rain-fed. Therefore, the time of importation has been an issue. We import fertiliser from Europe but last year, we imported from China. We imported it too late. At one point we said the Ministry of Agriculture should not be involved in the importation of the agricultural inputs. They should do it. That is a careless way of doing things. That is why we had problems and poor yields. I am in the Departmental Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Cooperatives and I have to declare my interest. We went to the South Rift and found that the so-called fertiliser that was imported at that time was substandard. So, we had very poor yields last season. Today, there are some mechanisms in place to import fertiliser, but I do not know whether it is from Europe or the Far East. The rains are late. Some of these things are because of our carelessness. Therefore, the agents here would be doing day-to-day work of checking on imports. Even those unscrupulous importers who import things that are locally available will also apply breaks. You can imagine the textile industry that was doing very well during your heydays as a school boy. We were buying uniforms from locally produced textile that was very cheap. Today, we have mitumba ; no wonder we have various skin diseases. We had, for example, a factory that was doing very well - Bata Shoe Company of Limuru. Today you go there it is just a shadow of what you and I know. So, we need these agencies very quickly to check on some of the imports and to protect locally manufactured products. Look at the motor vehicle industry. We import a vehicle that is over seven years. When it gets here it breaks down and you are forced to import the spare parts for the vehicle, because you do not have an agent to vet what is supposed to be imported. So, we have been wasting a lot of foreign exchange in importing things that we would otherwise have been able to export. We even import batteries. Can you believe it? A car battery is imported from the Far East. What are we up to? We are jokers in the whole world. We are playing with our lives. We have skilled labour force in this country because we have people who have done sciences and engineering. What do we end up with? They are on the streets looking for jobs. They could be doing some work instead of us wasting them to go overseas to look for jobs. We are not even short of anything, but we are being careless as a country. That is why we have problems today. That is why this country is a dumping site for most of the goods. Who cares? We are importing even spare parts for the SGR. You cannot believe it. We are importing spare parts from China to build these locomotives, when we had a factory in Industrial Area that was manufacturing railway sleepers. Today we are importing. We are importing nearly everything. No wonder nowadays we import sugar and maize, which is a staple food in this country. Therefore, we should have this agency in the interest of our country to check and put a break on some of these practices that are not very necessary so that we can protect some of the factories here. Some of those factories, you and I know, will be able to offer employment to our people. We have a lot of unemployment. Some of us have a problem explaining to the youth what to do. I just came from Kitale. I have over 20 boys who came to me looking for jobs. They are university graduates; some of them very qualified scientists. We should do something. We should have an agent. I want to thank Hon. David Ochieng for having come up with this Bill so 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."
}