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{
    "id": 882429,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/882429/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 389,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I beg to move that The Tea Bill (Senate Bills No. 36 of 2018) be now read a Second Time. Madam Temporary Speaker, this is a very important Bill to us who come from the tea growing counties. It is a great moment of honour for us to get this opportunity. I would wish to give a brief history of how we got ourselves here. Before the drafting of this Bill, I moved a Motion in this Chamber, where I requested that Senate allows a few of us, Senators, who come from tea growing counties to form a select Committee to keenly look into the challenges that continue to face tea farmers in our country, especially the small-scale tea farmers, the bulk of whom many of us represent in this House. On many occasions, if you come from a county like mine, it is impossible to address a campaign meeting, during the time that you are seeking for leadership and the opportunity to serve in this House, without giving them a plan of what you intend to do with the tea sector. First of all, I would wish to appreciate the Senate for this great opportunity that they gave us. It is not very usual that our colleagues get to agree with us, especially the magnanimity that came from our colleagues that serve in the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries. They would otherwise have said that since this sector falls within their purview, the matter should rest until the day that they find time to sort it. However, they agreed with us. I would even wish to single out the Chairperson of that Committee, who is among the nine Senators that served with us in the select Committee. The select Committee had two mandates. One was to give a legislative proposal to this House on how the challenges in the tea sector will be addressed. The second mandate was to table before this House a report documenting the challenges that are faced by farmers in the tea sector. The report is ready as well; we are still polishing and making a few changes before tabling it in this House for adoption as a report. Madam Temporary Speaker, I would wish to report that there is good progress on that front as well. I would wish to just give this House highlights of what it is that is contained in The Tea Bill (Senate Bills No.36 of 2018). This Committee that was formed did engage all the major stakeholders in the tea sector to understand the challenges that the sector continues to face. We listened even to the Government through the Ministry of Agriculture and the conglomeration of different Government departments that look into the different crops in our country. We heard their presentation as well. We also listened to the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), who are the largest tea managing agency in our country and East African Tea Traders Association (EATTA), the body that manages the East African tea auction in Mombasa. We had an opportunity to listen to them and share with us the challenges. We listened to Tea Research Foundation, which is one of the very important institutions where for the last 50 or 60 years, tea farming as a business was sustained by the good work that was done by these Government institutions. They would do proper 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."
}