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"content": "Member of this Committee. I want to thank Sen. Cheruiyot for this bold initiative to ensure that we form an ad hoc Committee to look at this issue. I know the cartels in the tea sector are not excited about this, but I believe that this is the way to go. Personally, among other Senators, I come from a county which is a tea growing area, for instance, Aldai, Chesumei, Tinderet and Mosop sub-counties. The entire Nandi County is under tea growing. When you go to Nandi Hills Sub-county where we have multinational companies, the aura, the exuberance and the bubbling economic life in Nandi Hills Town has gone down. This is because of the so many problems that have been derailing the tea sector for quite some time. There are so many challenges and I want to agree with what most of my colleagues have said. The tea sector is very crucial and one of the interesting things about it is that it is one of the highest revenue earners for the country. However, what small- scale farmers contribute in this earning is not reflected. Madam Temporary Speaker, I agree that most of the multinational companies have nothing to show in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). For example, I have never walked into any primary or secondary school in my country where the multinational companies have assisted in building a classroom. They only assist in building toilets. It is, therefore, very sad that what this country earns through revenues generated from tea farming cannot be reflected on the farmers. Madam Temporary Speaker, most of the land that these multinational companies have in our counties, they did not buy it, yet there is nothing tangible to show for it. Therefore, this Motion is timely. These companies do not conduct CSR because they do not value anything else within our counties. Most farmers have been subjected to the whims and wishes of these multinational companies. For example, some have tea buying centres somewhere, like in Kapsimotwa, Tinderet and Aldai; but the farmers there have not benefited anything from them. Madam Temporary Speaker, I am a maize farmer, but most of my family members are tea farmers. Tea farming is not profitable anymore. I agree with what Sen. Aaron said; that we used to have a Peugeot showroom in Eldoret. When farmers got their tea bonuses, they would just walk to the showroom and drive away in brand new cars. However, that is no longer the case. Therefore, I agree that this Motion is timely. I hope that the recommendations of the Committee will ensure that this issue is sorted out. Madam Temporary Speaker, my two last points are on the issue of employment. There is a crisis, especially in Kericho County, in terms of problems between parent companies and subsidiary companies. This Motion will assist in resolving some of those issues so that farmers can continue farming in a good environment and get value for their work. This will also help us to avoid the crisis we are seeing in Kericho County at the moment, where the parent factory wants to separate itself from the subsidiary factory. Those issues of farming should be resolved. Finally, Madam Temporary Speaker, there is an aspect in the tea sector, especially from the multinational companies, that is worrying us. When you go to a place like Taito in Nandi sub-county, the multinationals have started a habit of blacklisting most young people, especially in Nandi Hills Sub-county. They do this at the expense of ensuring that they fight off competition in terms of employment and turnover of the tea leaves that they get to their factories. They also blacklist the native communities so that they do not have The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}