Mount Kenya legislators allied to the Kenya Kwanza administration are calling for the immediate replacement of the Direct Settlement System (DSS) with the coffee farmers’ preferred model of payment.
The Members of parliament who include Mwangi Kiunjuri (Laikipia East), Jane Kagiri (Laikipia Women Representative), Mary Maingi (Mwea), Duncan Mathenge (Nyeri Town), Wambugu Wainaina (Othaya), Njoroge Wainaina (Kieni), Dorothy Muthoni (UDA, Nominated) and James Githau (Kabete) have faulted the Ministry of Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development for imposing a payment model on the coffee farmers without considering their plight.
They have also criticised the Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives, Wycliffe Oparanya for introducing a new set of reforms through the Coffee Regulations without consulting with the farmers and the lawmakers.
“The Regulations for the DSS system were not proposed by parliament; they were set by the Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary. We have sent a delegation from the Mt. Kenya region to CS Oparanya next week with a message that those Regulations must be reviewed,” stated Laikipia East MP, Mwangi Kiunjuri.
The DSS coffee payment system is a banking facility regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya which allows farmers to receive payment directly through their bank or Sacco account for coffee sold at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange.
The system is part of the coffee sub-sector reforms that are being implemented by the government to enhance transparency and efficiency in the cherry payment process.
Before the introduction of the system in November last year, cherry payment was channelled through the farmers’ co-operative societies.
The societies would then deduct management fees and service any loans taken on behalf of the farmers before forwarding the balance to farmers.
However, farmers from coffee-growing regions have expressed their concern that the new mode of payment will kill the cooperative movement. While speaking on Friday in Nyeri, the legislators backed the calls by the farmers, arguing that they should have the liberty to choose their preferred mode of payment.
“We are telling Oparanya to listen to our farmers. They are the ones who own the coffee and if they don’t want DSS, it is up to you to get them their preferred model of payment but don’t push DSS down their throats,” said Kiunjuri.
The legislators have at the same time vowed to shoot down the proposed Public Transport (Motorcycle Regulation) Bill. They termed the Bill as punitive and a deliberate and unnecessary attempt to destabilise the boda boda sector.
While tearing into the Bill which is sponsored by Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale, the legislators questioned the need for the establishment of new agencies when existing ones like the National Transport and Safety Authority could be strengthened.
“I have looked at the Bill and there is nothing to it other than ulterior motives in it. As MPs, we have decided we will not approve it until we come to a consensus with the boda boda operators and their views are incorporated into that legislation,” stated Kiunjuri.
The legislators spoke in Kirichu, Kiganjo, Nyeri County, on Friday afternoon during the launch of the public engagement forums. The meetings, according to the Laikipia East MP, will be conducted in all wards in the 11 counties of the Mt. Kenya region and later extended to other wards in the country.
According to the legislator, locals who attend the forums will be accorded an opportunity to engage the leaders and air their grievances before the legislators provide solutions and enumerate the development projects being undertaken by the government in the respective wards.
During the engagement forum, a total of Sh 2.4 million was raised and will go towards the purchase of empowerment equipment such as tents and public address systems for various self-help groups within Kiganjo ward.
Kiunjuri said that the decision to start the public engagement forums was reached in Naivasha a fortnight ago, where some 59 MPs from the region decided to unite and further the government’s development agenda.
“We have decided to go to the ward level and we want to hear what the locals want the government to do for them, including constructing roads and health centres and connecting them to electricity and water and providing bursaries. We want the kind of politics that is grounded in development,” the MP.
The legislator, who also revealed that he will be chairing the caucus, said that the Kenya Kwanza defended the government’s track record. He at the same time called out detractors for what he termed as biased criticism and challenged them to be fair when analysing the current administration.
For Nyeri County, the MP said that the government had set aside Sh 1.6 billion for various development projects in the county, including markets, stadiums and construction of classrooms, among other ongoing development projects in the county.
Out of this allocation, he said that Nyeri would benefit from Sh 867 million for electricity connection and Sh 5.4 billion, which had been set aside to support the tarmacking of 108 kilometres of road in the county.
“All these projects are realities on the ground. The Kenya Kwanza administration is on track. Whatever election pledges we made, we have fulfilled and we are still fulfilling them,” he said.
“But the noises are so loud that one cannot be able to see the construction work going on or the development that is taking shape in our villages because you have decided to engage us in the reckless politics of hate and intimidation,” added Kiunjuri.
By Wangari Mwangi
