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{
    "id": 981029,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/981029/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 282,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, allow me to go to the summary. I will avoid wading into the controversy that prompted the short break. Just to remind our colleagues who had taken a little break and have joined us now, the objective of this amendment is to operationalize the Fish Marketing Authority. I would also like to remind them that fish provides a livelihood for five million Kenyans at different stages of the value chain. Fish is a serious pillar when it comes to food security in this nation. Any initiative that is brought up to promote fisheries subsector directly plugs into the President’s Big Four agenda, particularly the pillar on food security. Before the break, I had mentioned that the European Union (EU) has been the main destination of fish export from Kenya. However, it is an extremely sensitive market that when there is a cholera outbreak around Lake Victoria, Lake Turkana or the India Ocean, certain countries within the EU bloc shut their doors to fish from Kenya. It is understandable and you cannot blame them. That is why I said that there have been matters in the public domain and I took judicial notice of some reports indicating that Lake Victoria has now become a lake of poison. I know this should form a different and substantive Motion which I will bring to this House. We need to get the truth behind allegations that the water we drink and the fish from Lake Victoria is poisoned, and that everything around Lake Victoria is a disaster not waiting to happen but a disaster that is happening. There is need for sensitivity. When we have headlines running for three days and when we have the media for three days talking about the poison in Lake Victoria, it has an effect on our foreign markets. I spoke to a gentleman who exports his fish to the EU and the United Arabs Emirates (UAE). He told me that courtesy of those headlines, his buyers in those other countries are beginning to impose more stringent measures. The cost of compliance eats into the profits of fish processors and fish exporters. If we had the Fish Marketing Authority properly operationalized with a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), it would be their responsibility to assure our buyers in the international market that the fish that leaves Kenya is fish that has been subjected to the most rigorous quality and sanitary conditions that would match the standards of EU markets. I hope that the House will quickly pass this Amendment Bill, so that we give life to the Fish Marketing Authority."
}