By Moses Njagih
Co-operatives Development Minister Joseph Nyagah and Mathira MP Ephraim Maina have vowed to shoot down the controversial Bill seeking to introduce radical changes in the tea industry.
The two legislators said they would mobilise the defeat of the Tea (Amendment) Bill 2010, a private members Bill by Konoin MP Julius Kones, saying it had serious implications that could kill the multi-billion industry.
"The Bill has similar proposals as those introduced to the coffee sector, including the liberalised market that we popularly called soko huru, but which eventually brought down the coffee industry. We do not want the tea industry to head in similar direction," said Maina.
The MP took issue with a clause in the Bill allowing tea farmers to sell their leaves wherever they wished, saying this was likely to kill established tea factories.
"Kones is my friend and though I support reforms in the sector to ensure farmers gets better returns, I would not support his Bill as this could kill the industry unless it is looked afresh," said Maina.
Maina said being the chairman of the Central Kenya MPs forum, much of where tea is grown, he would lobby legislators from the area to reject the Bill, and push for a consultative amended Bill to the current law.
Nyagah said he would not allow a law that had the potential of hurting the small-scale tea growers, as the proposed Bill threatened.
"That is why when Kenya Tea Development Agency came up with an idea of introducing a micro-finance to compete with tea farmer's Sacco, I said a big no. I will likewise not support this Bill because
Source: The Standard | Online Edition
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