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{
    "id": 86568,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/86568/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 390,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Munya",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for East African Community",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 279,
        "legal_name": "Joseph Konzolo Munyao",
        "slug": "joseph-munyao"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have a lot of sympathy and, in fact, I share not just sympathy, but most of the sentiments that have been expressed by the hon. Dr. Kones in relation to this Bill. The Bill mainly deals with the Tea Board and the Tea Research Foundation and brokers who broke the sale of the tea. Clearly, you can see the intention is to give the Board more teeth in regulating the industry. But the real problem of the tea industry is not even the tea board because the tea board has been quite irrelevant and I do not see even this Bill making it that relevant. The real challenge is the small scale grower of tea, who has very little say in the tea industry. The theory is that the KTDA is a marketing company that has entered freely into an agreement with the farmers and factories are run by farmers. That is the general theory. But if you look at the way KTDA and directors at the factory work, you realise that the directors who are elected by the farmers have very little say over what happens. They have very little to say, not only the marketing of the tea which they have grown, but even the processing of the tea and its investment. So, these are some of the issues that need to be addressed, so that the small scale tea farmer can have more say in the management of his sweat. It is his sweat. He is the one who grows the tea. It is not KTDA that grows the tea. So, it is this imbalance we are saying should be addressed. How can we address this imbalance where we have this big animal called KTDA? This small farmer who owns two, three, four acres? How do we bring that balance so that the farmer has some say because decisions are made there at Nairobi and then are sent down to the farmers? They are adults and they should be informed: This is what we want to do. This is what must happen. So, those are the issues."
}