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{
    "id": 883980,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/883980/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 274,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Farhiya",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13179,
        "legal_name": "Farhiya Ali Haji",
        "slug": "farhiya-ali-haji"
    },
    "content": "scheme.” That is a good provision. Any subsequent Bill should have such a provision. The National Social Security Fund Act 2013 made it mandatory for both employers and employees to contribute 6 per cent, respectively. This was meant to be a national pension scheme irrespective of who was to manage it. Unfortunately, up to today because of the court battles, it has never been operationalized. This is very sad because there are so many Kenyans who are working so hard and yet there is no law in this country that is making pension mandatory. The Retirement Benefits Act only takes care of schemes that are existing. It does not make it mandatory for such a scheme to exist. So, that is one of the issues that we need to probably consider as a House to demand for operationalization of the NSSF Act. I am applauding the drafters of this Bill for including that bit. Madam Temporary Speaker, Clause 11 is on remuneration payable to members of the board. I am always against the term ‘remuneration.’ I know allowances and such stuff is one of the methods of remuneration. However, knowing Kenyans, once you give them give a window; they will take all the things that include their remuneration and other allowances. We need to be more specific and say they will earn allowances instead of remuneration. This is because remuneration includes salary, allowances and so forth. It is much more than allowances. Kenyans are known for taking advantage of such provision in the law to ensure that they adequately remunerate themselves more than what they are entitled to. Madam Temporary Speaker, in terms of the qualifications of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of that board, I think five years’ experience is not a lot for a CEO of a company. Here it says “five years in senior positions.” This needs to be expanded. We could say five years in senior positions and a number of years also in other positions. Madam Temporary Speaker, the other thing that I have a problem with in this Bill, or that which could be improved, is the tea growers registering with one processor. I feel this is making the situation of tea growers to remain the same or worse. This is because if we are limiting these tea growers to one processor, they can be taken advantage of. I want to bring this other bit of research that is being done that now agriculture is left with an aging population of people aged 60 years and above. Part of the reason why this is growing is because of cartels within these industries of tea and coffee. Agriculture is no longer attractive to young people who understand the market dynamics and feel that it is not paying more. If this situation is allowed to continue, we might end up in a situation where we do not produce any more. We might end up becoming a net consumer. This will affect development, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and food security. This is because the Kenyan economy is predominantly dependent on agriculture, both livestock and farming. We are producers and not manufactures. However, with these restrictions proposed in this Bill, in the end, we might end up abandoning our farms and all of us relocating to cities. Clause 23 says the authority shall keep books of accounts and other undertakings, among other things. I do not want to read all that because I am sure you all have the Bill. Clause 23(a) says: “Balance sheet showing---”. We stopped using balance sheet long time ago. It has been replaced by statement of financial position. If you are doing a balance sheet; it is not a complete set of accounts, so my proposal is to remove Clause 23(a) and 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."
}