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        {
            "id": 1565392,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565392/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 77,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
            "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
            "speaker": {
                "id": 13165,
                "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
                "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
            },
            "content": "practice where they would wait sometimes for two months. Many other accruing benefits, including the ability of farmers to vote in directors of their factories on the principle of one man, one vote. That should not be confused by another mantra that is common in our political parlance. Farmers really appreciated and celebrated. At that particular time, tea farmers were happy. Of course the story is different right now, and there are serious challenges that need to be addressed. In this particular day and time, coffee farmers are extremely happy. When I go to parts of my county that have farmers growing coffee, they appreciate the coming into place of this administration. They used to receive Kshs30 and sometimes even Kshs20. Today, one of my largest coffee societies known as Kipkelion Coffee Growers Association is giving prices of up to Kshs140 or Kshs150. Something that is unprecedented. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we must guard our farmers to ensure that every amendment that we move in this particular House serves to protect their interests more. They should be earning more than that. However, because of middlemen and how the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) was being handled, there were serious challenges. I must appreciate the efforts that have been made to get them to that level. The bigger challenge for us is how to ensure that farmers continue to gain and appreciate the value of coffee. For the very first time, there is a reverse trend in my own county. Previously when I went to the coffee growing areas, they would challenge me and tell me that the same way we worked hard for tea farmers, they also want to see benefits. That was the song for last term. This term, the noise is now on the tea side. They are asking why we focused too much on the coffee side and now the tea crop has all those problems. You also know the benefits in the sugarcane sector. Ordinarily, as representatives of farmers, we need to take such Bills with the seriousness that they deserve. If there is a responsibility that you can have particular as a Senator, because agriculture is a devolved function, the policies and legislative proposals that we pass in this particular House must reflect the spirit of our Constitution. We should ensure that we protect the interests of our farmers by passing legislation that captures the understanding that there are two levels of government; the national and county governments. Therefore, as the representatives of the people, we must ensure that in all the conversations, a farmer does not get any loss in all the jargon that comes up in the legislative-making procedure. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank Members of the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries for their industry. I know we have gone to public fora many times and people have spoken on the need to conclude on this particular exercise. Sometimes it makes sense to hold on, even just for a few more days, but get the right piece of legislation. It is not easy to legislate on such a political crop like coffee. Therefore, for the legislative journey that this particular Bill has travelled, beginning in this House to the National Assembly and now back and about to go through a mediation exercise, I believe it is worth it. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have to expedite because we have to lock in the gains at this particular time when farmers are happy and there are many Kenyans who continue to The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
        },
        {
            "id": 1565393,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565393/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 78,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
            "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
            "speaker": {
                "id": 13165,
                "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
                "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
            },
            "content": "plant coffee, so that we take advantage of the good vibes that farmers have at this particular point. I hope that Members who will eventually get an opportunity to serve in the mediation committee when we reject this particular Motion and follow through with the reasoning by Members of our Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, will expedite that exercise. I am particularly concerned because previously while mediation exercises would take between two to three weeks on average, some of our mediation exercises are beginning to take fairly long. I request Chairpersons and Members that we grant opportunity to serve in mediation committees to consider expediting especially people- centric legislation like this particular one and many others. That is something worth to consider and make sure that we conclude on such Bills. For example, in the past two to three months, the country has been conversing about the menace of gambling in our Republic and the need to rein in betting firms and all these institutions, yet we have a mediation committee that has served for almost 70 days and counting. We have our Members and those of the National Assembly. That Bill began its life in the National Assembly before it came here. They disagreed with our amendments and now there is a mediation team that we formed in March. We are now nearing June, but that exercise has not been concluded. I urge colleagues that when we have a matter that is people-centric, especially which is topical in the country and people feel that there is need to provide guidance, we need to expedite it. I cannot recall Members who sit in that committee. I am talking about Members who the Senate sent to represent us in that particular committee. My plea is that when we form this particular one, we should expedite it, so that we represent our farmers. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with those many remarks, I beg to oppose the Motion for the reasons that I have explained. I hope that we will conclude this exercise quick enough, so that we begin the mediation exercise as soon as our colleagues from the other House resume next week. I thank you."
        },
        {
            "id": 1565394,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565394/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 79,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
            "speaker_title": "The Speaker",
            "speaker": null,
            "content": " Next is Sen. Olekina."
        },
        {
            "id": 1565395,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565395/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 80,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
            "speaker_title": "",
            "speaker": {
                "id": 407,
                "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
                "slug": "ledama-olekina"
            },
            "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to make some submissions on this report. Let me begin by appreciating the work of the Committee for going through clause by clause on the amendments made by the National Assembly. There are few amendments made by the National Assembly that I agree with and there are some that I would have wished my good Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries to have given us guidance on what to amend or the language to be used. The first amendment, which has been made that I support is on a broker. When a person is called a broker, given that this commodity is being sold abroad, you have to go to a market and brokerage the deal between the buyer and the seller. In my opinion, it is imperative that you are licensed by the marketing authorities. That is a good amendment and I fully support it. However, I do not support entirely the amendment on who the buyer is. I do not need to be licensed. Sometimes, I think we just over-legislate. I do not need to be licensed to buy coffee to resell. If you look at the amendment as drafted by the National Assembly, you will be shocked that whoever buys coffee must be licensed. It is absolutely ludicrous. If I The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
        },
        {
            "id": 1565396,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565396/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 81,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
            "speaker_title": "",
            "speaker": {
                "id": 407,
                "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
                "slug": "ledama-olekina"
            },
            "content": "was to buy coffee, I should go to the broker, bid my price and buy coffee and if I wish, add value. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in Narok County, we are now growing coffee in Kilgoris, Narok South and part of Emurua Dikkir. It is imperative that we encourage our population to venture into the agricultural sector and grow. However, if one has to use a broker to be able to sell, you are going back to the colonial era when the crops in our country were defined by the cash crops economy. In fact, at that particular time, we were only growing goods to feed the British in the United Kingdom (UK) and the West. The definition of who a buyer should be completely rejected. I wish that the Committee would have said we delete this. I have gone through the report and I must say that the Committee has done a fantastic job. Let me thank the Chairperson on the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. However, I wish that the Chairperson would have gone on and said- “The Committee rejected this amendment and suggested the following---”, so that it guides us. This way, even when we select a team to go through mediation, they can go and say, this is the language to be used. I wish they would have said, “In terms of the buyer, delete that. Let everybody be able to buy.” The second part, which I also detest is where a buyer is defined. Even a grower should be defined. So, before I grow coffee, I have to go and say, “Which plant can I grow here?” I strongly believe that we should have that completely deleted. I noted that the Committee had accepted that amendment to the clause. However, I am of the view that every Kenyan who has an interest should be allowed to. We are training students. I am currently recruiting 100 students of Narok County to offer scholarships and train them in agribusiness. I do not want to guide those students and tell them that they can only plant this tree. So, certain definitions need to be removed. Mr. Speaker, Sir, without wasting so much time, I wish to request my colleagues to go through these amendments one by one. When we go through the Committee of the Whole, by just rejecting it does not help. We should be able to figure out. We can work with the Secretariat on how we can also further amend those clauses. Then when we shall go to the mediation, there is a version that will be coming from the Senate. However, if we are just saying that we have rejected because of the following reason, and not giving an alternative, that is what will lead to the mediation Committee taking more than the 70 days that the Senate Majority Leader has alluded to. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I equally oppose these amendments and root for liberalization of the coffee industry. Let everyone grow. I have seen that in reference to marketing you also have to be licensed. Does this mean that if I travel to the United States of America (USA), sit with Starbucks, and they tell me that they want to buy coffee in Kenya, I cannot market coffee there as a Kenyan? That, I have to look for a licensed marketer? This should be a willing buyer, willing seller. Let us liberalize this economy and allow more people to grow coffee as they wish. We must divorce ourselves from this colonial mentality of defining our agricultural sector as a cash crop and other crops. We are still following through. Hii maneno ya nyayo --- I am sorry. We need to stop it. We need to say if you can grow coffee in Narok County, do so. If you can even add value and consume it locally, so be it. However, if you can grow and sell abroad, then it would make sense to go through the brokerage so that you earn more money. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
        },
        {
            "id": 1565397,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565397/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 82,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
            "speaker_title": "",
            "speaker": {
                "id": 407,
                "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
                "slug": "ledama-olekina"
            },
            "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, dwelling more on this matter, I oppose these amendments. However, I support the Committee report fully for having done their work, but I oppose the Motion. Thank you."
        },
        {
            "id": 1565398,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565398/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 83,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
            "speaker_title": "The Speaker",
            "speaker": null,
            "content": " Sen. Omogeni, please proceed."
        },
        {
            "id": 1565399,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565399/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 84,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
            "speaker_title": "",
            "speaker": {
                "id": 13219,
                "legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
                "slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
            },
            "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am also speaking on behalf of the farmers in my county. Of my four constituencies in Nyamira County, in three of them, there are farmers who grow and sell coffee. That is North Mugirango, West Mugirango and Kitutu. North Mugirango neighbours my good friend, Sen. Cheruiyot. However, for both my tea and coffee farmers, I have never understood why farmers from central Kenya and even Kericho County earn more money than farmers from Nyamira County. Sen. Cheruiyot, I do not know whether you are aware that our farmers were paid Kshs239 for dry coffee. Where Sen. Wamatinga comes from, they were paid Kshs500."
        },
        {
            "id": 1565400,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565400/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 85,
            "type": "scene",
            "speaker_name": "",
            "speaker_title": "",
            "speaker": null,
            "content": "(An Hon. Senator spoke off record)"
        },
        {
            "id": 1565401,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565401/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 86,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
            "speaker_title": "",
            "speaker": {
                "id": 13219,
                "legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
                "slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
            },
            "content": "Is it Kshs356 not Kshs500? At least this time we are almost at par and I am happy. The other time they were earning one and a half times more than others. We want fairness for all our farmers. When we sell coffee or tea, we are selling coffee coming from Kenya. We never sell coffee coming from Nyanza or from central. Rather, we sell it as coffee from a country called Kenya. We want fairness for farmers, both from Central Kenya, where our brothers are, we have in-laws there, and also farmers from Nyanza and Rift Valley. We have the same problem with tea, where we understand that farmers from central Kenya fetch better prices than farmers from Nyamira County. We want the Government, even if it means to regulate the auctions and the selling of tea, we get fairness. The farmer in Nyamira County and the farmer in central Kenya want to pay school fees and buy a kilogramme of meat for themselves. They also want to wear nice suits, so we want fairness. Whatever laws we are passing here should ensure fairness to all the farmers in Kenya. We all should benefit. I am told in Brazil there was very bad weather that has affected coffee production. So, we are now gaining here. Let us all gain. If we are earning Kshs350, let it so. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we also want the Government to assist our farmers. Since coffee has now become the black gold, farmers are facing a lot of problems. When you bring your coffee and store it in a coffee society, chances are that somebody somewhere will plan and rob you. I do not know about central Kenya. However, I can speak for coffee societies where I come from. If you go to West Mugirango in Nyangoko, Kemera in West Mugirango, or Eyaka in North Mugirango, there is no proper fencing of our coffee factories. The Government should step in and create a fund. Fence these coffee societies nicely since the farmers are also contributing to foreign earnings. We want to have a good entry to the coffee factory, connect them to electricity and improve the beds that they use for drying coffee, so that they can also enjoy and say the environment they are trying to make money from is good and appreciates the farmer. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
        }
    ]
}