WAMUCHOMBA, GATHONI

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) I rise to support this wonderful Bill. 27th November 2024 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEBATES 47 Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA)By the grace of God, I was here in the last Parliament, and I know the zeal and the desire Hon. Kuria Kimani had to have for...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Temporary Chairlady, I need to get clarification from the Chairman of the Committee so that we do not override an issue of concern. When we are talking about permits, there is a clause I had read - sorry, I do not have my notes...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA)Hon. Temporary Chairlady, this was a contentious issue. I am happy because the Chairperson has included or inserted the words “international standard”. So, I support the amendment.(Clause 44 as amended agreed to)The Temporary Chairlady(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Thank you very much. Question, that the words to...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Thank you. The Temporary Chairlady (Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai) : Hon. Members, as you comment, please, bear in mind that it is 10 per cent of the 2 per cent. Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Yes, we understand it is 10 per cent of the...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Speaker, I am waiting for the Clerk to bring it for my signature. RESPONSES TO REQUESTS FOR STATEMENTS

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I beg to lay the following Paper…

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I wish to apologise for my absence earlier in the afternoon. I am from my constituency where I had a forum. If you look at the way I am dressed, you will note that I have covered my head because I...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Speaker, I am dressed like mothers of the Mothers’ Union because I had joined them for a very special meeting for the Mothers’ Union of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) in my constituency. Being one of them, I had to attend the event...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I am honoured, indeed, to participate and be on record that I have supported this Bill because this is what we have been waiting for. I am a member of many co-operatives in my society, community and constituency because, obviously,...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Thank you, Hon. Chairman. I rise to support the Chairman’s proposal. It is imperative that we get to know the details and the 14th November 2024 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEBATES 44 Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA)processes of making sure that we get quality coffee. I am...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Temporary Chairman, I am trying to resonate in the line of Hon. Gichimu, in the space of including the large-scale farmers. In the language of coffee farmers, we use the word estate farmers. Those estate farmers may not have a union, but they have...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) I would like to assist our Committee Chairperson. It seems as if there is a double-entry for the large-scale farmers. They are defined as estate growers and then as large-scale farmers. That is a double-entry. We propose to leave it as it was. The Temporary...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) I want to ask the Chairman to try and help us understand so that we can meet somewhere. This is because we are all working towards the benefit of all the farmers. Now that he is introducing a term called large-scale farmers, are they well...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Temporary Chairman, in as much as we want to have an all-inclusive sector in the coffee industry, I am a bit hesitant to agree with Hon. Gichimu, and I will give a reason. We have had a lot of mess in the coffee co-...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Allow me to speak as a farmer, as I argue out this space. We are speaking about a member who is going to be part of the Coffee Board of Kenya. What is the function of the Coffee Board of Kenya? One of the functions...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) I still want to support the Chairperson's position, but allow me to speak on the politics of coffee. If we leave this opportunity of nominating somebody to the Coffee Board of Kenya without any of the qualifications that we are asking for, we are just...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) I agree that we go in the direction of the Chair and accommodate the request by Hon. Gichimu. The Temporary Chairman (Hon. Farah Maalim) : Hon. Gichimu, are you okay with that? What do I do now? I do not have the amendment to accommodate...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Temporary Chairman, coffee is produced locally but heavily consumed internationally. The standards we set here may only favour domestic markets. We may need to come up with standards that are set to accommodate us in the international market, such as the EurepGAP and many...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) In the coffee sector, Hon. Temporary Chairman, we have a 'Q-grading system.' That is strictly a grading system that allows most of our small-scale farmers in this country to sell coffee that is known as speciality coffee. That is a world standard. It is not...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) The reason why we were looking forward to this new Coffee Bill is so that we can run away from the many bureaucracies that are created during law-making like we are doing now. Why force a farmer to go to the Kenya Bureau of Standards...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Temporary Speaker, I am ready for the business. The Temporary Speaker (Hon. David Ochieng’) Proceed. Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table: Reports of the Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee on:

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Temporary Speaker, I seek your indulgence on this matter because five babies are born every hour in this country. If we do not prioritise such issues, by the time we discuss this matter at six o’clock, how many more babies will have been born...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Temporary Chairman, I am just wondering why we are wasting a lot of time trying to make a law that will prohibit business people from lending or leasing out their cars. 12th November 2024 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEBATES 38 Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA)The Temporary...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to thank my sister, Hon. (Dr) Lilian Gogo, for bringing this Motion. I had tried to bring the Motion this morning, and I wrote to the Speaker, but I was informed that she had done that before me....

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I want to join my colleagues who have given us a very good story - a narration of the fallen hero, the late Minister. I used to watch him on television when I was a small girl. I saw him...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to ask if the word “makanga” is parliamentary. Is the Member in order to use that kind of language today? (Loud consultations)

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) On a point of order, Hon. Speaker.

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Speaker, is the Member on the Floor… (Several Members spoke off the record) I am addressing the Speaker. You are not the Speaker. Stop heckling.

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Speaker, is Hon. Kajwang’ in order to say that the Deputy President has a mentality to eat? Does he have any gadget to measure mentality? Is that a fact? Can you prove that there is a mentality? Which gadget do you use to measure...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) On a point of order.

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Bwana Spika, ningependa kujua ikiwa…

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) I am on a point of information. I would like to inform the Member to clarify.

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Speaker, I refuse to be muted when I have something that I need the Member to clarify. She must clarify.

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) On a point of order, Hon. Speaker.

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Speaker, the Member has said that the Deputy President alisahau kukunywa dawa. Tungetaka kujua ni dawa gani ambazo Mhe. anaongea kuhusu. (Loud consultations)

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Thank you. The temperatures there are too high. (Laughter)

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Speaker, I rise to defend the Deputy President, Hon. Rigathi Gachagua, against what I am calling 'mob justice.' It is a process that has not given him the right to reply. However, he has gone ahead and presented some factsheets to the villages and...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) I cannot hear you, Hon. Speaker.

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) I have said that I rise to defend the Deputy President, Hon. Rigathi Geoffrey Gachagua, against a process that I personally feel is mob justice against him. He was not given the right to reply before we went for public participation. That is what I...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Speaker.

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Please allow me to execute my point first, and then you can guide me. Procedurally, the factsheets distributed in our constituencies had allegations that were read out to the members of the public as facts. In my opinion, the factsheets distributed in our constituencies communicated...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) I am glad that I have got this opportunity to contribute to this wonderful Bill. At the outset, I want to congratulate the Chair of the Departmental Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation in the National Assembly, Hon. KJ whom I previously served with in...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Hon. Deputy Speaker, I have no issues with the Deputy Leader of the Majority Party seconding this Bill, which I support because I am a coffee farmer and represent farmers. He needs to substantiate. He has said that he is my doctor. In what aspect...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. At the onset, I rise to support the Bill. This is a Bill that we have been waiting for as coffee farmers and as Members of Parliament who come from areas where coffee is grown. It is a Bill that...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Thank you, Madam Speaker. My name is Gathoni Wamuchomba. The Temporary Speaker (Hon. Farah Maalim) Order. It is not a Madam Speaker. Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Thank you, Mr Speaker. My apologies. My name is Gathoni Wamuchomba. I just needed to clarify that. I...

Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri, UDA) Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Allow me to contribute to this debate on the Supplementary Estimates. First, I want to thank the young people of Kenya for giving us an opportunity to review budget estimates and re-look at areas where we can reduce our expenditures and...