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{
    "id": 922311,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/922311/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 323,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mwaura",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13129,
        "legal_name": "Isaac Maigua Mwaura",
        "slug": "isaac-mwaura"
    },
    "content": "who had not been paid and needed to come and see me in my office. I did not object to that. In fact, they passed through a reverend. They came to my office and gave me a narration that was quite interesting. They said that they have not been farming because of frustration for the past 17 years. Some of them told me that they supplied 5,000 bags and others 10,000 bags of maize. There were some few people who looked genuine. The moment I told them to give me the papers, they never returned in my office, and I never saw them again. That tells you that there are many ‘tenderpreneurs’ who were paid, and the real farmers were never paid. That is a disincentive. What are we telling the Kenyan farmer when we say that there is a shortfall? These are some of the things that we need to speak openly about, and I am glad this Senate has made pronouncement on that. I thank Sen. (Prof.) Kamar and the team that canvassed around the issue of the maize scandal. However, we cannot just talk and leave it there as if this is another talk shop. Just the way we said litigation must come to an end, such matters must also come to an end. We need to make a decision on that. When a Cabinet Secretary in charge of Agriculture and Irrigation refuses to come to this House to respond to questions or does not have the decorum to give a substantive directive as to how he has been planning for this country, so that we do not end up in the current situation, then something is wrong. Without saying much, I support this Statement. Let it not just be another report on top of the other Report we had on maize, because we have seen Kenyans suffering. One may say maize was imported from Mexico because it is staple food in this country. I agree that it should not just be a question of maize farmers, but also those who consume maize. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, just to reiterate and disabuse the notion, there are many maize farmers in central Kenya. There are big farms like Wangu Investment Company Limited of the late K.S.N Matiba in Laikipia, which is 12,000 acres. So, let us not imply that people from my great County of Kiambu only farm in baskets and backyards because of the concrete jungle that all of us live in, which are like dormitories. I support."
}