Parliament in limbo over cashew nuts

Dodoma. Parliament resumes sitting today amid uncertainty over the tabling and debating of the Finance Bill, with a section of MPs digging in to block amendment of the Cashew Industry Act.

The House was adjourned yesterday following a stalemate between the government and the Budget Committee over several proposed amendments in the Bill, including the one abolishing the requirement to ring-fence 65 per cent of cashew nuts export levy.

Deputy Speaker Tulia Ackson postponed yesterday’s session, telling MPs that the committee was yet to compile its report on the Bill.

“We expect the committee to issue its report, but it is still consulting with the Finance and Planning Minister. We will therefore not proceed with today’s (yesterday) activities,” she said.

Some MPs confided in The Citizen that the Bill did not receive approval as the committee failed to agree with Dr Philip Mpango on the proposed amendments.

According to our sources, other than the standoff over the cashew nut levy, other issues that delayed presentation of the Bill include gaming tax, the fate of the Planning Commission and the legal interpretation of several words in the draft law.

The House Standing Orders require that a bill can only be tabled for debate after it is cleared by the relevant sectoral committee. This particular Bill was expected to be moved yesterday for the second reading that usually approves it wholly or with mutual amendments.

The Budget Committee currently chaired by Ms Hawa Ghasia oversights the main government budget. The two parties were expected to continue closed door consultations last evening ahead of today’s business.

MPs who talked to The Citizen were emphatic that yesterday’s stalemate was the result of haggling over the government’s attempt to access billions of shillings meant for cashew nuts development.

Dr Mpango’s amendment of the Cashew nuts Act seeks to remove the provision that 65 per cent of the crop’s export levy be remitted to the cashew nut development fund and instead be deposited in the consolidated account. Previously, only 35 per cent of the levy was directly accessible to the government while the rest provided for farmers’ inputs, infrastructure development and research.

The move has drawn wide criticism from MPs from cashew nut growing regions, farmer associations as well as other stakeholders who feel it will hurt the industry. The matter drew heated and emotional debate this week as the Parliament concluded the debate on the main budget. Those who have opposed it include Ms Ghasia, a former minister in the last administration. She hails from Mtwara where the crop is the mainstay of the local economy.

Another former minister, Mr Nape Nnauye, also vowed “showdown” over the Bill, saying it was timed to ensure the government retained over Sh200 billion it has failed to forward to the cashew nut fund as the law requires.

Opposition MPs also threw a spanner in the works, declaring at a press conference in Dodoma that they will seek legal redress should the government force the amendment through.

They vowed not to relent in their struggle to ensure that rights of growers of the crop – which brings the highest amount of foreign exchange earnings than a combination of five other traditional export products – are not “tampered with.”

“We will seek legal redress if the plan proceeds…we are here as a united front in ensuring that cashew nut growers are given what is rightfully theirs,” said Mr James Mbatia (Vunjo – NCCR-Mageuzi). He was in the company of over 20 other legislators from the opposition benches at a press conference.

In an effort to kill the topic on Monday, the Attorney General, Dr Adelardus Kilangi, said the Cashew nut Industry Development Fund was not established by an Act of Parliament, drawing further challenge by the MPs and the Legal and Human Rights Centre which said he was misleading the public.