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{
    "id": 980724,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/980724/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 335,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Naivasha, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Jayne Kihara",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 336,
        "legal_name": "Jayne Njeri Kihara",
        "slug": "jayne-kihara"
    },
    "content": "speak to it because Hon. Junet indicated that he only talks about tea in funerals and rallies. He is here now. I come from an area where we do not grow tea, but I am a partaker of tea. The little I know is because of the complaints that I have heard. I have seen women picking tea in cold weather and during hot seasons. Eventually, we hear that they do not get anything. The bonus they are supposed to receive has been reduced to almost nothing. Much as we pride in agriculture as being the backbone of our economy, if we do not make it profitable, we can be sure we will not generate employment for our youth who we talking about not having jobs. I am sure if tea was paying, we would get all the youth from Nairobi going to the farms to work. In the past, we saw small centres’ economies thrive and accommodate guests because people had received bonus from tea, but that is no more. I have listened to somebody who is conversant with tea matters, the former Principal Secretary, Irungu Nyakera. I have heard him on Inooro FM talking very passionately and I kind of see the frustration because of the cartels that have been mentioned here by many Members. Kenya has become a country of cartels. They are the ones who govern our economy. Even in farming, you will see a director at the KTDA, as you say, who does not have a single tea plant. This is where this country has to depart from. We have seen importers import sugar and then it is repackaged in Mumias Sugar Company packets. What does that tell you? We are killing our agriculture so that crooked importers can manage us by importing what we should be producing as a country. I have never related Mombasa with tea, but now I think I know. I happen to have a nephew who packages tea in Mombasa, but I was not able to know why in Mombasa where they do not grow, tea is auctioned and packaged. So, this devil called the KTDA… This Bill is bringing protection to the poor farmer. I have heard this many times including in the rallies Hon. Junet is talking about. I have heard about the guaranteed minimum returns. We need to protect those who put us in office. We are here courtesy of people who are being misused or deflated by cartels. So, we should deal with the cartels. When I was young, I visited the Kericho Tea Hotel, and like somebody said about Peugeot, I think that is where I saw very many new Peugeot cars and they all belonged to tea farmers. When you go out of the country, you cannot compare the taste of our tea with that of foreign tea. The fact that when they want good tea, they blend it with our tea leaves a lot to be desired. What is it that we are not doing as a country? We need this Bill to have passed like yesterday. I also thank the author of this Bill. It is long overdue. It is time for us to decide what we want to do with agriculture from here. How much agriculture was devolved? Some of these cash crops should have been left at the national level so that they can be managed and protected from close to where the heart of the Government is, if at all it cares about its people. Pyrethrum, which was our cash crop in Naivasha, is no more. The little that is grown is being exported by Chinese like bhang. It is hidden in the underworld. That is how it is exported. Our cash crops must be revived if we want to create jobs for our youth. As long as agriculture is not rewarding our youth, they are not going to engage in it. We will keep saying that there are no jobs and there is a lot of poverty in this country. Women come crying to our offices because of school fees yet some of them are farmers who do a good job and maintain their families. Let us start with tea as we think of how we are going to improve our agricultural sector, so that our people are economically empowered to run their families and this country wakes up from the doldrums of where we are now economically. 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."
}