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{
"id": 1565402,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565402/?format=api",
"text_counter": 87,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13219,
"legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
"slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, last year, a night guard was attacked and killed by thieves who were stealing coffee from Eyaka Coffee Society. As I speak today, the person or persons who attacked have not been arrested to date. We also need to understand that the environment under which we process and store our coffee exposes our farmers to a lot of risk. I would want the Government to step in and assist these farmers. Some of the societies have loans that have been outstanding for many years. Any time they make good earning, their money goes to repaying their loans. I hope the Government can step in and help. Some of the proposals in this report from the National Assembly are hard to understand. Surely, why does the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) want to come in to set the sitting allowances for members of coffee societies? I mean, we are overstretching the mandate of the SRC. The SRC wants to come to Nyamira to sit in North Mugirango, Kitutu and West Mugirango to tell farmers what their sitting allowance should be. You can set a sitting allowance that the farmers will never afford. The allowance should be commensurate to the earnings of the farmers from that coffee society. You do not set a blanket sitting allowance. Maybe farmers in Embu County make more money and they want to pay their directors a sitting allowance that cannot be matched by farmers in Nyamira. If you make good money there, pay them more. If we are not able to make good money in Nyamira, we want to save on the allowances we pay to our directors. I do not agree with this proposal that the SRC should now come in meddling and say they are the ones setting allowances for farmers. I hope the Members who will go to do mediation will strike off that amendment. It appears as if our brothers in the National Assembly do not live in our counties, where we come from. This is something they should be able to understand. The SRC will think a board member attending a meeting should be paid Kshs25,000. If you pay a director for four months, you will wipe out the earnings from the cooperative society. So, let that be a matter that will be dealt with by the farmers themselves. They will see the earnings from that society and then decide the remuneration they are going to give their directors. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I like this idea of value addition. We have spoken about value addition for ages. Sen. Cherarkey, I was in Uasin Gishu County on Friday. I went to take a cup of coffee. Do you know how much I was charged? Now, you want to pay farmers in Nyamira Kshs239 per kilogramme of dry coffee and yet a cup of coffee is Kshs350 in Eldoret City, in Uasin Gishu County, which is not even the Capital City of Nairobi. I paid Kshs350 for a cup of coffee. Eldoret City is a nice, beautiful city. However, the farmer who produced the coffee for a whole kilogramme, ile goro goro, is earning Kshs239. We are not being fair to our farmers. One kilogramme should fetch more than Kshs1,000. How many cups of coffee will one kilogramme produce? Many! That small sachet is the one that is making me to pay Kshs350---"
},
{
"id": 1565403,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565403/?format=api",
"text_counter": 88,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
"speaker_title": "The Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Sen. Omogeni, What is goro goro ? You referred to that word and I am struggling to understand what you mean."
},
{
"id": 1565404,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565404/?format=api",
"text_counter": 89,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13219,
"legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
"slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, goro goro is that tin. When you take that coffee in that tin, that is the one we call two kilogrammes. In Nyamira, we call it goro goro . 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": 1565405,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565405/?format=api",
"text_counter": 90,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13219,
"legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
"slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
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"content": "When I speak that language, my people in Nyamira understand. It is used everywhere; I am sure even in Kilifi. The point I am making is this; imagine you deliver that two-kilogramme tin of coffee and all you are earning is Kshs239. When you go to London you will pay three dollars or about Kshs450 for that cup of coffee, which we took in Eldoret for which we paid Kshs350. We must do something so that we make the farmer to be the one who is benefiting more because they are the ones toiling. The person taking a cup of coffee, he is just enjoying it, but the farmer has toiled. He needs to earn money that will pay fees for his child, afford medical bills in hospital and dress nicely like the farmers I saw in Uasin Gishu, wearing very nice suits. That is what we want for our farmers. Also, let us not steal a lot of money from our farmers. This Bill is proposing the introduction of other levies. The moment you introduce a levy, who will meet the cost? It is the farmer. I went to school in Kabianga. The Kenya Coffee Research Foundation was situated opposite the school. So, you still want farmers to continue paying money for research up to today? We will do research for how long? For eternity and that cost is being transferred to the farmer. You are proposing another levy here which you are calling development levy. What is it for? Let us reduce this taxation on our farmers. Let us be fair, Senators. This is more taxation on our farmers. Let us not allow passage of laws that add more pain to the farmer. If they are lucky to get the good earnings they are getting this year, let that money be for the benefit of the farmer. We will pay the taxes. We are paying enough taxes to the Government, but let us spare the farmer. Already they are facing enough pain. I really hope that the Senators who will sit in this mediation committee will ensure that they do not allow these proposals from the National Assembly that want to tax the farmers' earnings more. Already the taxation they are facing is enough. They are the ones who pay the directors, they are buying coffee, they are paying the person tilling the shamba, the one plucking and society expenses. That is enough. Let the extra income go to the pockets of the farmer. I hope the Government will continue supporting our farmers. We were in this Senate last time. The Coffee Cherry Fund (CCF) never benefited us in Western Kenya. It never benefited us. Kericho benefited---"
},
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"id": 1565406,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565406/?format=api",
"text_counter": 91,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
"speaker_title": "The Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " What is your point of order, Sen. Cheruiyot?"
},
{
"id": 1565407,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565407/?format=api",
"text_counter": 92,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
},
"content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, I think Sen. Omogeni was doing so well on this issue, representing his farmers, who incidentally are also my farmers because we come from the same region. He knows that when Sen. Moses Wetangula moved the House on that particular matter, it was because only four counties had been picked to benefit. It was Nyeri, Embu, Murang’a and Kiambu. Kericho was not one of them. So, the record of the House should reflect that we never got a shilling from the CCF by former Cabinet Secretary Hon. Munya."
},
{
"id": 1565408,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565408/?format=api",
"text_counter": 93,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
"speaker_title": "The Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Proceed to conclude your remarks, Sen. Omogeni."
},
{
"id": 1565409,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565409/?format=api",
"text_counter": 94,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13219,
"legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
"slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
},
"content": "Surely, Mr. Speaker, Sir, if those four counties benefited, for equity, for fairness, let us also benefit this time around. I am pleading with the President, if he is watching me, let him also remember the farmers from Nyamira, Kisii and Kericho counties. At least the farmers in Nandi do not pay a lot of attention to coffee. Let 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": 1565410,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565410/?format=api",
"text_counter": 95,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13219,
"legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
"slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
},
"content": "us also benefit. Let us have fairness. Let us have equity. We debated that issue on this Floor. Just imagine how those farmers felt just seeing four counties from one region being picked to benefit, then others are isolated. I am appealing to the Cabinet Secretary, Hon. Mutahi Kagwe, let him be fair to all the farmers of the Republic of Kenya. Last time farmers from central benefited. This time around, let also the farmers in West of Kenya benefit. We also pay taxes. We also want to live good life. We want our farmers to live good life. I am appealing to the Cabinet Secretary and the President of the Republic to remember the farmers of West of Kenya this time round. We did not feel happy. Our farmers did not feel happy that we were discriminated. I hope this time there will be fairness. Mr. Speaker, with those remarks, I oppose the Motion. I thank you."
},
{
"id": 1565411,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1565411/?format=api",
"text_counter": 96,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "The Speaker",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(Hon. Kingi) The Senator for Nandi County, Sen. Cherarkey."
}
]
}