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{
    "id": 882438,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/882438/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 398,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "The point that I was making is that we, as a House, must place a great premium on devolving power. It should be seen in our legislative work, that we, as a House, are aware of the fact that people want power to be closer to them. If you have a director nominated, say from Kisumu, Migori or whichever county, as a people, we should visit him. Each and every time there is a challenge in the sector that they head, we should walk to their office or home and ask them what they are doing about the challenges. For example, there is one challenge that tea farmers continue to face. In 2000, the Government, through a legal notice, converted a parastatal then known as Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA) into an agency. It gave them the power and that was a brilliant idea. It was a brilliant idea in the sense that all the parastatals that used to manage certain crops such as Coffee Board of Kenya are now former shells of themselves. The same applies to Pyrethrum Board of Kenya. All the parastatals that used to manage different crops collapsed, but the tea sector survived thanks to that particular legal notice. This is something that we grappled with as a Committee because we realized that one of the things we cannot do is to undo a legal notice through legislation. Despite the fact that the directors who are in office represent hundreds of thousands of farmers and, perhaps, their decisions affect the economies and livelihoods of millions of Kenyans, they are still under the cover of The Companies Act. The Government can do very little in terms of interference with the operations of the private company. Madam Temporary Speaker, the reason we are proposing a regulatory authority is because it will do the work of the regulator. For example, it will propose what happens when tea is sold at the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA). They could also state what should happen with that money and who should keep it. When you see industries thriving in this country, it is because of a strong regulator. A regulator that has put in place regulations that protect the public. They ensure that innocent men and women that vote for us are not taken advantage of."
}