Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria is in the news again but this time for the good reasons.
Kuria wants to present a bill to parliament that, if signed into law, will ban the export of unprocessed coffee.
He is optimistic the ban will help boost farmers’ earnings in the wake of widespread exploitation of by cartels and other businessmen who have taken advantage of the farmers’ plight.
Coffee has been the primary source of the total government income accounting for more than 12 per cent of the total income and the country’s Gross Domestic Product consistently since the 70’s.
Coffee beans are sold at weekly auctions in Nairobi or directly to roasters abroad who process the beans and sometimes sell them back to the country at heavy premiums.
Kuria has said the proposed law will prohibit the sale of raw coffee to other countries to make sure that farmers reap maximum profits from their toil.
“I am introducing a bill in the National Assembly to provide that coffee be exported only in processed form having been roasted, milled, packed and branded, clearly labeled with a ‘Made in Kenya’ inscription,” the controversial lawmaker said in a letter to the Speaker.
It remains to be seen how the bill goes through with the MPs being the last hurdle in between the bill and it being signed into law.
If it goes through, farmers will then have to celebrate as it will essentially translate to the fact that they bid bye-bye to their long-suffering and exploitation.