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{
    "id": 99434,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/99434/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 259,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Ogindo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 120,
        "legal_name": "Martin Otieno Ogindo",
        "slug": "martin-ogindo"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the Bill. From the onset, I want to say that even fish is part of animals and it is part of livestock. It is with great shame that this country has come this far without appreciating the need to have The Animal Technicians Bill as proposed by my friend, hon. Lekuton. It is very sad that, what this country gave as a priority is more of expenditure for consumption rather than investment. It is the role of the Government the world over, to create conducive environment, so that members of the society can exploit their potentials. I know that livestock in this country is a very significant source of income. If we allow these trained technicians to practise, three things are bound to happen. First, we will create employment for these people. Over and above creating employment that will earn them an income, we will ensure that there is food security in this country. I know people who refuse to eat our livestock simply because they doubt their quality. As was well articulated by the Mover, at some point, the European Union banned our meat from its market. Most of the diseases that undermine the quality of our product are diseases that can be dealt with by technicians through vaccines. I want to emphasize that with the introduction of the Economic Stimulus Programme, we now have enhanced production of fish. This fish would require attention if we were to get the right quality for our domestic and export market. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have seen a trend in this country whereby the Government always waits for a crisis to occur and then it spends all the money that it can lay its hands on to solve it. It is clear that if this country can get her priorities right and synchronize her activities, we can do much more than we are doing with our finances today. In supporting this Bill, I am aware that the economy of this country will prosper in its width and breath. There are people who are struggling in my constituency to do poultry farming. They suffer loses every day from very simple diseases that can be attended to by technicians in a regulated manner. Today, it is a shame that Kenya even imports eggs from South Africa. This is something that we can produce here and even export. If we open this market for the technicians in a regulated manner as proposed here, there will be big contribution to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). That should be our focus. This country cannot engage in productive activities. We always cherish buying merchandises from other economies, but that will not help us achieve the envisaged Vision 2030. First and foremost, we should strive to ensure there is food available locally here. I always disagree with my mother on the kind of animals she is keeping. Every time I tell her to sell the many herds of cattle and take care of only one, she reminds me that she does not know much about other breeds because she was brought up seeing her parents herding the same cattle. However, I know if she was to be persuaded by somebody in the name of a technician, she would buy the idea. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you will realize that the issues of perception are deep in the villages. It is, indeed, time we ensured that there is an increase in the number of field officers who can assist our people in the livestock sector. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}