Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 978983,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/978983/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 189,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Thika Town, Independent",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Wainaina Jungle",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13492,
        "legal_name": "Patrick Kimani Wainaina Jungle",
        "slug": "patrick-kimani-wainaina-jungle"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to contribute to this Bill. In the formation of the Kenya Tea Board (KTB), the CEO is a very important person. The qualification for this position is that the holder should have a relevant degree. It is very important to sit down and define what that degree is. That is because that is the person who will carry the vision of KTB. If we start on the wrong footing, we will end on the wrong footing. Giving him a term of three years is very short. There is a lot of work that needs to be done at the KTB because of the shambles that is our tea industry today. If we are to do anything about it, I propose a renewable term of four years. That way, we can see some results from that person. What do I want to see from that CEO? It is good to start from top to bottom. Many a times, we put a lot of resources at the farmers’ door forgetting that, if the market does not move, then the farmer loses all the time. Let me start at the top with marketing. Why has our tea remained a commodity all this time? In the last two years, the prices have been really bad. Places like China have come in very strongly asking why they import tea from outside. They are also developing their own tea plantations. If we do not think outside the box, we will not be able to sell our tea. It is high time that we started packing our tea and branding it so that Kenya Tea Packers (KETEPA) becomes a renowned brand everywhere. What do we need to do so that we do not always talk about black tea? If you go to those countries - and I keep referring to China because they are very aggressive - you will find that they have green tea, black tea and purple tea. In fact, a friend of mine moved to California from Florida. He is growing purple tea which is from Kenya. Unfortunately, he only has two farmers who are growing purple tea. Why is everybody stuck on green and black tea while there is market for purple tea? Can we start evolving? KTB is in charge of research. Why do we not invest money so that we know what varieties are required in the world? We are talking about organic tea. If you go to Europe or America, you will find that many people consume organic products. Why are we stuck with conventional methods of using fertilisers? Even when Corona Virus comes in, nobody knows where it hits. If we stick to natural organic farming which is chemical free, we will widen our market. In any case, those products have a premium for our farmers. If we can market our products wisely, farmers will have their money. When it comes to distribution, a Member has said that she went to Nigeria and there was KETEPA tea in the kiosk. How does it get there? Right now, it is very expensive to take The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}