Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 979939,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/979939/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 185,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Runyenjes, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Eric Njiru",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2725,
        "legal_name": "Eric Muchangi Njiru",
        "slug": "eric-muchangi-njiru"
    },
    "content": "So, I welcome this idea of establishing the Tea Board of Kenya that will oversee the operations of the tea subsector in our country. If you talk to the many tea farmers in our country, especially the small-scale farmers who are around 700, they will tell you that there is a problem with the way leaders or directors are elected in our factories. There are many requirements that do not give an opportunity for the best people to be elected to be in charge of the operations of tea production in many factories. For instance, there are requirements which dictate that for you to qualify to be a director, you must have a certain kilogrammes of tea. You will find that some people are not lucky to have huge tracks of land. Therefore, they cannot produce as many kilograms as others. So, having a requirement that for you to stand for elections as the director you must have, for example, 5,000 kgs of tea, will not give everyone an equal chance. That includes those that are able to provide leadership that is so much needed in the tea sector. As we support the establishment of the Tea Board of Kenya, it is good that we also note that our farmers would like a situation where one man has one vote as opposed to the current situation where some farmers have more stakes in the voting process that is not open. Currently, one farmer has an opportunity to vote in advance if he has more shares. This does not give other farmers an opportunity to vote for the leaders that they want. We would like a situation where one farmer has one vote as opposed to one farmer having many stakes that will generate leaders that are not needed to lead our factories. I support the idea of establishing the Tea Board of Kenya. The tea farmers are one of the most taxed farmers in the county. We have as manty as 36 forms of taxes and other charges that are pushed down to the farmer. The farmer is left without so much income. I support this idea and request that, the board that will be established should look into all these issues on taxes and regulations so that in the end, we can have our small-scale farmers getting more from what they do. The tea crop is not like any other ordinary crop. It takes a long time to mature. It takes up to 15 to 20 years to mature. So, farmers who have made a decision to go into tea farming need to be protected by the Government, so that they do not lose their land by farming a crop that is not giving them good returns. With those remarks I support. Thank you."
}