Prof. Margaret Kamar

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 911 to 920 of 3067.

• 20 Feb 2019 in Senate: The Committee recommends that Government must immediately pay all the farmers; that was as at that time, and we believe that it has been done. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we also realised that when it comes to importation of maize, there is no regulation and there are no guidelines--- view
• 20 Feb 2019 in Senate: We further recommended that the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation should develop regulations and guidelines on the importation of maize and food crops and table them before this Senate. In the recommendations, we have actually given 45 days for that, and we hope that it can be done. view
• 20 Feb 2019 in Senate: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to touch on a few recommendations, because we made quite a number of them. One, is that the Government must immediately pay the farmers, which I think has been done. The only addition here is for the farmers who have been called ‘cartels;’ and we are still appealing that they be released and that they be paid their The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate. view
• 20 Feb 2019 in Senate: money. This is because if we were to arrest anybody, we should have arrested those who crossed the borders with a lot of produce. However, if we are dealing with somebody, and punishing an aggregator or poor farmers, it is very difficult. view
• 20 Feb 2019 in Senate: Mr. Speaker, Sir, the suffering that is going on now in the maize zone is untold, because with the departure of aggregators, there are people whose children have not gone to school basically because they have nowhere to sell their produce. As we are talking now, when the President declared that the price is Kshs2,500 and that the stores should be opened, we are talking of stores that had not been opened until two weeks ago. Therefore, even what the President declared was not obeyed by the same NCPB. It is very important that we start looking at these issues, ... view
• 20 Feb 2019 in Senate: The other recommendation is that the county governments should construct a database of farmers, as I had mentioned earlier. This is to ensure proper identification for purposes of maize deliveries, payments, provision of subsidies and other services. The Government should also investigate agencies in case there is anything so that we do not look like we are protecting what they have called “cartels,” whom we know are really farmer aggregators. They can go ahead and investigate and openly share their results with this House. view
• 20 Feb 2019 in Senate: We have also recommended that the Office of the Auditor-General needs to conducts a systems audit on the processes of the NCPB. As I said earlier, the NCPB has been reduced to that level of becoming a store; but who is gaining from the leasing of the stores? That is what we are asking the Auditor-General to look at. Who actually is receiving that money? This is because if it was not on their fingertips when we questioned them, it means that it is not even known which store has been leased and which one has not. We are, therefore, ... view
• 20 Feb 2019 in Senate: Mr. Speaker, Sir, we need to review The NCPB Act and the Public Finance Management Act with a view to realigning and reconciling their mandates to the devolved system of Government. This one is very important because, unless we change the law, everybody is behaving as though it is business as usual. However, our interest, even as we are lined up, is that we have strongly recommended that the NCPB be devolved completely so that the counties that are producing maize can have their silos and storage. We need to even build a relationship between these blocks that we have ... view
• 20 Feb 2019 in Senate: Mr. Speaker, Sir, we went to Nandi County and met farmers who said that they will never go to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) because the cost of taking produce to the NCPB reduces Kshs3200 to less than Kshs3000. Therefore, they find it difficult. The county governments should take up this more seriously. It is upon them to create aggregation centres where farmers are so that they are able to deliver produce at the right time. That is the only way we can be assured of food security. Mr. Speaker, Sir, for many years, since independence, we have ... view
• 20 Feb 2019 in Senate: Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I wind up, so that my colleague can take up some of the issues, county governments must pass regulations and legislations that will help protect farmers in the whole grain value chain. This was a learning curve for all of us and the governors that we met said the same. They had not seen the The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate. view