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{
    "id": 754225,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/754225/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 205,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ng’ongo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": "answerable only for distribution of fertilizer, it will be very easy to oversee it and it will be very easy for that body to professionalise in distribution because we have a big problem with fertilizer distribution. A number of times we hear the Government giving assurance to the public that they have been able to source and buy fertilizer and they are going to subsidise it, but in the end you realise that some unscrupulous business people get involved in between and get this fertilizer and extort money from farmers. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, sometimes you do not understand how we can have different fertilizer prices in this country in not very distant places. You find even in the same town different prices for fertilizer. It is because we do not have a streamlined method of distributing and selling fertilizer to farmers. So, we need a body that we can hold answerable and accountable and I want to speak to the Government to understand that this country has so many regions which are agriculturally productive. It is only that sometimes our policies work against the productivity of some areas. If you come to my constituency, for example, it is very rich in agriculture but because there is no support given to farmers and sometimes there is the assumption that that region can only produce fish, you realise that a lot of produce that can be generated from that place is never achieved. You can go to the district headquarters to look for fertilizer and not get it. Even if you go to look for seeds, you cannot get them. I want to tell this House that sometime back in late 2011, I had the privilege to serve in an ad hoc committee of this House which was constituted after we realised that the prices of essential commodities was not affordable to majority of Kenyans. The committee was called “The Cost of Living Committee” and when we went to the Kenya Seed Company it was very interesting to realise that a decision made by an individual and a very wrong decision to stop production of seeds almost brought this country into serious problems in terms of seed distribution. We realised that the seeds that were being given to farmers were not the correct seeds that were meant for high altitude areas. The seeds for high altitude areas were given to low altitude areas. Why was this happening? It is because someone somewhere made a decision not to produce the right seeds. These are some of the decisions that are made in this country that I think need to be looked into. It is not that we do not have institutions but what we lack is responsibility and this culture of people seeing every opportunity as one to grab and loot from the people of Kenya. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, once this board is set up, and I urge Hon. Chris Wamalwa to bring a Bill after this Motion is passed, we would expect an efficient board. We want a board that is transparent and responsive to the needs of the farmers. We do not want to hear of cases of a board we have set up trading with the Kenyan public and yet they get paid from the public funds. It would be really unfortunate. This country should not be importing food at all. Actually, we are blessed with enough rains and even if we do not have enough rains, we are blessed with rivers. Some of the biggest rivers in Africa are in this country. A lot of our water is used in Egypt through River Nile to irrigate crops. Actually, we are all aware that Egypt does not see rain at all. But we allow them to use our water and we do not use it. What are the reasons behind this? We make some steps forward and some several steps backwards. The Member of Parliament for Kwale talked about something to do with the Coast Province producing a lot some time back. It is true it did but even when we put in place mechanisms to produce more crops, in the end we fail a very simple test. How do we safeguard the produce from the farm to the 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."
}