Eng. Ephraim Mwangi Maina

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 1561 to 1570 of 1598.

• 13 Nov 2008 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are all aware that close to Kshs30 billion was needed to resettle people. Are we really serious? Do we not feel that we have subjected, perhaps, up to 2.5 million Kenyans to utter inhuman poverty? Most of those people have become so desperate. In fact, the Minister has admitted in her answer. They are now using the Kshs10,000 to look for a piece of land. Mr. Minister, I beg you--- view
• 30 Oct 2008 in National Assembly: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. This is a matter which could be touching on the destiny of this country. We all understand that there is also a time span set in the Report. I want to state that I feel that this matter should be of national importance. view
• 29 Oct 2008 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, first, I wish to commend the Ministry, and the present Minister for the effort he is really putting in this Ministry to see to it that agriculture comes up. I also want to agree with a policy that he has stated, that it is time we made farming commercial. Until a nation can feed itself, it cannot be free, healthy or have peace. It is time we invested enough resources in agriculture. The major problem in this country is that farming has been almost turned to slavery. In fact, if you go into farming, you need ... view
• 29 Oct 2008 in National Assembly: I have not finished! We are spending time looking for foreign exchange, and telling tourists to come here, but let us look at coffee. If coffee farming was supported today, we would get enough foreign exchange, five times what we are getting today. If tea was supported today--- I feel like shedding tears when I see a tea farmer uprooting tea bushes in total desperation. The same tea farmer is the one who is enabling us to earn the foreign exchange that we use to buy drugs and fuel. Can we not support tea or coffee farming? Maybe, if we ... view
• 28 Oct 2008 in National Assembly: asked the Minister for Agriculture:- (a) whether he is aware that world coffee prices have dropped significantly and, therefore, negatively affected the country's earnings; (b) whether he is further aware that due to the above situation, coffee farmers are now uprooting the crop and resorting to alternative farming; and, (c) what measures he is putting in place to cushion coffee farmers from fluctuating world prices and to promote their produce in international markets to fetch better prices. view
• 28 Oct 2008 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the first answer does not relate to my Question. It relates to the future, which the Assistant Minister is talking about. I am talking about the present, where I am saying that farmers have been suffering and coffee production has been going down. Could we address this matter as the present, and not as history or the future? view
• 28 Oct 2008 in National Assembly: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I think we had better get serious! In the first instance, I said that we are being told of the future. My Question is very clear, and it is about what the Ministry is going to do to save the coffee industry. It used to be the number one foreign exchange earner, but now it is nearly in the fifth position. Coffee production fell in 1985 because of what happened, and there has been no effort by the Government to assist farmers to come up and grow this crop. That is ... view
• 28 Oct 2008 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I intended to ask for your direction over this matter because I do not want it to be brushed aside after a bit of talk. Now, the truth of the matter is that I was looking for a road map towards assisting the industry come up for the sake of this country. There is no need for the Government to spend money on marketing tourism when we can also do the same by enabling the coffee farmers to grow coffee which today is produced at only 25 per cent. That is what I am looking for. ... view
• 23 Oct 2008 in National Assembly: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Motion. We are now talking about beefing up of security because the issue of insecurity has reached a certain level in this country. I want to draw the attention of this House to where Kenya has come from. I keep wondering how violence could start, say, in Eldoret, and spread throughout the country and even reach major towns such as Nairobi and Mombasa. The insecurity that we are witnessing in this country today is not a casual affair. We must say where that progression started ... view
• 15 Oct 2008 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I find it completely perplexing that we are talking about human life and the Minister has admitted that the Ministry of Medical Services is a difficult one. He has admitted that things are happening there that are not proper. Could he tell us whether the drugs which are entering this country are fit for human consumption? Secondly, could he also confirm whether this drug control agency is working? Thirdly, if it is not working, could he then confirm that the lives of Kenyans are at risk and what steps the Government intends to take? view