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{
    "id": 874397,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/874397/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 360,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Milgo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13174,
        "legal_name": "Milgo Alice Chepkorir",
        "slug": "milgo-alice-chepkorir"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, all these issues came as a result of Executive Order No.1 of 2017 that led to the exemption of white and yellow maize from taxation. While this Executive Order was issued by the Head of State, there were officers in the line Ministries who were supposed to oversee its implementation. They were to put in place a proper framework which could have ensured there was some limitation on the importation of maize. It is unfortunate that the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Food Security did not put into place mechanisms to ensure that they regulated the quotas that were supposed to be imported. They did not adhere to the restrictions in terms of timelines and ensuring that the maize which was imported was of high quality. The major challenge came as a result of their failure to play their roles properly. It is the role of the Government to feed its citizens. However, based on the unregulated imports, a lot of maize came into this country which affected our farmers in terms of them accessing markets for their produce. In addition to that, there was a delay in opening up of the NCPB stores for our farmers to take their produce, and their price was not competitive enough. It was very low and not commensurate to the input of farmers. Currently, our farmers are greatly demoralized and we are fearing this country might continue importing food at high prices. Madam Temporary Speaker, it is quite unfortunate that this inter-Ministerial Committee was not able to control the amount of maize that was imported. Initially we were to import 10 million bags of maize, but we ended up importing an extra 4.5 million bags. By so doing, this led to wastage of meagre resources we have in this country. This country is in dire need of resources and it is unfortunate that this mess ended up affecting the KRA. This is because we lost over Kshs13 billion in terms of taxes that would have been paid to the KRA. Additionally, the maize that was imported was substandard. The KeBS had reported that there was a lot of maize in the stores which was substandard and contained aflatoxins; they gave a figure of 63.3 percent. Given all these scenarios, what is happening in this country? Some time back we were talking about imported sugar which contained mercury and peanut butter having aflatoxins. My sons tell me that all these substances that are said to be in these foods are carcinogenic. Therefore, while we are declaring Universal Health Care (UHC), we may The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}