Baringo residents are protesting against the proposal to have beekeeping licensed and regulated under Livestock Bill 2021, terming it draconian.
On Saturday residents by County Beekeepers and Honey Producers urged Members of Parliament to reject the Bill.
“The bill is automatically aimed at oppressing the poor farmers and so it should not be allowed to pass through Parliament” Chebii said.
He termed it draconian, saying if it becomes law the offenders shall be fined a much as Sh500,000 or face one year in jail, or both.
"This will torment our people," he said.
The Bill seeks to prohibit illegal keeping or importation of bees unless otherwise authorised with an officially signed operation licenCe.
It also targets bee inspectors to making sure the traded bees are healthy and free from any contagious disease.
The chairman mobilised bee farmers and NGOs across the country to condemn the bill.
“Our people have been depending on honey as a main source of income to raise their families and pay their school fees and passing the law shall definitely oppress and impoverish them,” Chebii said.
He was backed by Charity Ng'eno, a bee farmer who complained the bureaucratic requirements will discourage farmers from venturing into the business.
“Baringo is among the few counties producing the best natural honey in Kenya and therefore such obstructive law is not permissible,” Ngeno said.
The residents said they only expected Uasin Gishu Woman Representative Gladys Sholei'd bill would ban importation of killer chemicals or herbicides that harm the environment and bees.
Baringo South MP Charles Kamuren pledged to mobilise his colleagues in parliament to shoot down the bill.
He called upon the Majority leader Amos Kimunya to stop pushing for a Bill, which shall automatically fail.
"I want to tell my friend Kimunya not to leave behind a bad legacy by frustrating bee keepers who are trying to make ends meet and instead he should have involved them from the beginning," Kamuren said.
In the new laws proposed by the government, no person shall be allowed to keep bees for commercial purposes except in an apiary registered under the new Act.
The Livestock Bill, 2021 states that a person shall not own or possess bees or beekeeping equipment for commercial purposes unless the person is registered under the new Act.
Bees are also not allowed to be kept on land owned or occupied by the person unless the land is registered under the Act as the location of an apiary.
(Edited by V. Graham)
