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{
    "id": 763285,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/763285/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 211,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Murgor",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1754,
        "legal_name": "James Kipkosgei Murgor",
        "slug": "james-kipkosgei-murgor"
    },
    "content": "Thank you Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this Motion that has been brought by the Member for Tinderet. It is a very important Motion. I would like to thank him for bringing it to the House. Secondly, I would like to congratulate you for your re-election to this House for the second time and also your re-appointment to the Chairperson’s Panel. Congratulations. Back to the Motion, I come from a constituency which is not very far from the sugar belt. Over the years, we have seen deterioration of the sugar industry. I recall in the late 1970s and in the early 1980s, we used to admire the farmers in those areas when we would go there. Even at some stage, some of us thought we should buy land there and grow sugar-cane. However, over the years, that area has really deteriorated. Those days you would have seen a farmer walking with his head high. Nowadays, the people of those areas are in a very sad situation; very pathetic indeed. What does a sugar-cane farmer do? He or she plans to plant sugar-cane. They go for a loan and then plant sugar-cane. He or she has to wait for 18 months to harvest and sell the sugar- cane to the miller who will mill and sell it, but forget about the farmer who produced it. I agree with Hon. Melly when he says that this is actually slavery. It is pure slavery. Somebody has toiled seriously and then you deny him the benefits of his sweat! We forget that the farmer, even in those 18 months, has to eat, go to hospital, dress, take his or her children to school and he or she is denied what is his or hers. When you visit millers, you will not find them with stocks of sugar which means they have sold them. Why are they not paying farmers? I agree with what Members have said that farmers should be paid within 14 days of delivery of their sugar-cane. I look at it in another way. Why can we not, when a farmer has planted his sugar-cane and waited for 18 months for it to mature, pay him at least 40 per cent of what he is actually supposed to get at the end? I agree that an interest should be charged on delay in paying farmers. That will make millers wake up. The authority in charge of the sugar industry should be looked into. They are sleeping on the job and something has to be done about it. Finally, today, we have talked about sugar, but we should look at all the other agricultural sub-sectors and products. I am talking about the cereals, tea, and coffee. The dairy industry is also still part of agriculture. I must raise my worry before we pass this Motion. My worry is on 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."
}