Kenya: Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei should listen to members of the Agriculture Industry Network who are calling for the proposed amendments to the Food Act to be put on hold until Parliament returns from recess on January 20, 2014 after the Christmas break set for Thursday.
It is wrong for the cabinet secretary to seemingly brush aside the lobbyists’ arguments for they have merit and deserve to be taken on board. The cabinet secretary’s assertion that his ministry has consulted widely and took into consideration all the views from various stakeholders appear to deliberately miss the point when he further argues that “we cannot accommodate all the people at once but have tried to include views from everyone.’’
The question does not revolve around the number of people, or groups, consulted but on whether the most relevant views have been incorporated into the new bills.
Recent incidents where members of the Media Owners Association and Editors’ Guild spent time and gave individuals tasked with the drafting of the contentious media laws copious notes on the way forward, only to be ambushed with draconian bills meant to take the country back into the era of dictatorship, are a reminder of how deaf government mandarins can be.
Mr Justus Monda, the chairman of the Pyrethrum Growers Association, argues that Mr Koskei inherited bad laws and should tread cautiously to avoid worsening a bad situation. Mr Monda, who is also the vice-chairman of Federation of Agriculture Producers, further argues that although the minister needs to do something about the sector, the controversial Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority Act 2013 was among the bad laws that were hurriedly rubberstamped by the Tenth Parliament without proper scrutiny.
Whereas the cabinet secretary and supporters of the proposed amendments might have been tempted to dismiss Mr Monda’s arguments as those of a maverick, the county governors caucus is also calling for a deferral until there are wider consultations and a meeting of minds on key issues.
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