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{
    "id": 980623,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/980623/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 234,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kirinyaga Central, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Munene Wambugu",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13382,
        "legal_name": "John Munene Wambugu",
        "slug": "john-munene-wambugu"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this chance to contribute to this Bill. I must say from the word go that this is a very important Bill and the sponsor must be thanked. It is true that as it is now, it is not a Bill with a lot of proposals to change the tea sector. However, it is a good beginning. I believe that in the Committee Stage, we are going to do proper amendments so that it can address the real issues facing the farmers. As Hon. Mbarire has clearly said, we have many problems in the tea industry. I must confess I come from a constituency where we grow tea in large numbers. The elephant in the room has been the KTDA. We must ask ourselves much as KTDA is now a private company… Initially, it was an authority. It was a parastatal. We must ask ourselves if we should go back there. That is because as it is now, KTDA has monopolised the tea industry such that the farmer has no say. In fact, the farmer has no say in electing the directors. We may have a factory of about 50,000 farmers but only 10 of them elect directors through what they call proxies. Time has come when we must say one farmer one vote for us to take KTDA back to the old lost glory. I have heard Hon. Mbadi talk about whether we are trying to clawback from what was passed in the Crops Act of 2013, where the tea board and all other boards were collapsed together to form AFA. I think AFA has failed this country, and especially the tea farmers. Maybe, it is not AFA as a board. Maybe, it is the set-up of AFA. That is because when we come to tea, coffee and sugar-cane, those are crops which were collapsed under the Crops Act. They had their own stand-alone Bill and they had their own regulations. Their way of production and marketing is very different. I say this with a lot of respect to the other farmers in this country. Just like some animals are more equal than others, when we come to tea, coffee and sugar-cane, we must agree that some crops because of their value, the people they employ and the exchange they bring to the country, are more important than others. I heard Hon. Mbadi asking if we are going to create a board for every crop. I think that is not what we are trying to say but for tea, we must have its own unique and stand-alone board and Bill. The same applies to crops like sugar and coffee. I think AFA should only deal with crops like millet, sorghum and other crops which are not contentious and which need to be brought together because of economies of scale so that they can be marketed together in the world. However, tea requires special treatment and people who are knowledgeable, educated and exposed on that field so that the board and their CEO can take tea to the next level. For instance, the world over, we are getting crush, tear and curl (CTC) tea to orthodox and special tea. But when you lump together and AFA is supposed to come up with how to develop those emerging new markets, they may not have the capacity because they could also be overwhelmed since they are dealing with all the crops. I think this is a very good Bill. It should be supported and we must amend where we should so that it can capture and address all the things that are bedevilling the tea sector. I have looked at the proposed Bill and there are some concerns with regard to Clause 7 of the Bill. I was happy to hear the Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Co-operatives saying they will be proposing amendments because when you look at (d), you cannot have the Council of Governors just nominating a person. That person must have some expertise so that he or she can add value to the Board. In clause 7(e), it states that the Cabinet Secretary will nominate four persons from tea growing areas. But the four persons should be elected by the farmers to represent their interests in the Board. They should also come from tea growing areas and have the relevant skills. It should not be just any farmer. It must be a farmer who has demonstrated an understanding of tea. 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."
}