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{
    "id": 770948,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/770948/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 184,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Oyoo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2408,
        "legal_name": "James Onyango Oyoo",
        "slug": "james-onyango-oyoo"
    },
    "content": "it and keep their money which they pay when they want. So, that is one of the issues that will be addressed. I will mention the challenges to this House through the caucus I have talked about. Our efforts could be thwarted if Members from the sugarcane-growing zones are not steady with regard to the issue of careless sugar imports. There is forever an excuse that we cannot produce enough sugar to sustain the local demand. I wonder because the same people who are forever expressing this fear to us are the ones who come up with ideas of making sure that… If we had sugar challenges in 2014 then, in 2015 we ought to have developed regulations that would have promoted sugar production so as to beat the challenge. It is unfortunate that for a long time now we have been treated to comments such as, ‘We do not have enough tablespoon sugar and so we have to import’. Initially, during Kenya African National Union’s regime we used to have a situation whereby all the factories were closed for annual repairs for a whole month. During this duration, sugar would be imported. Well-wheeled businessmen in the KANU regime would then be given an opportunity to import sugar which was meant to fund KANU campaigns. I thought that KANU died! If there is any blame to be put on KANU for what it was not doing right, let us note that KANU went and what it did lies in past memories. Nowadays, we have businessmen and cartels walking in and out of government offices and more so the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries and certain influential offices of top Government officials. They do not have any steady offices or locations and are forever carrying briefcases. You will realise that these are the people who are forever importing sugar which is supposed to come and fill the void prompted by lack of enough sugar to meet the needs of this country. We need to sit as Members of the sugarcane-growing areas and ensure that we follow up on this matter politically. We should determine who these people and their supporters are and how we can stop them. They are bulging in wealth. They are making a lot of money out of sugar, while our farmers die of poverty because they do not get paid. They no longer enjoy the facilities they used to because they are not paid in time. Again, there is no room for sugarcane development and our people are forever poor and are going to die poor unless we stop this attitude of some millers. Muhoroni is home to many of the millers and I want to tell you for free that sometimes I hear that very important guests have passed by my constituency and have been hosted by a miller without my knowledge. Some even come on Sunday’s when they are supposed to go to church. As the Member of Parliament, I am sometimes not aware or informed of such visits and so I am unable to monitor their activities. These companies take money from the Sugar Board of Kenya to develop sugarcane growing which they do not. They are forever flourishing and diversifying while the public factories which were set up using public money are dying. These people have the advantage and now we have just realised that instead of most of the private millers developing sugarcane they take money to diversify their industries. They have of late become the real importers of sugar. We are left to wonder! If a miller has been given a licence to import sugar, what is his business being there? For any valuable reason, would he mind about the farmers? I said during an interview on television that sugar importation is not easy. One should not wake up in this House and accuse a Member of Parliament or a small businessman outside there of being a member of a cartel in the sugar industry. To belong to a cartel in the sugar industry, you need to be very well protected. In fact, this business is done at a higher level because what they are eating as profit is Government taxes which they are evading. For one to make money out of sugar importation you must be well-protected so that you import 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."
}