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"id": 1498182,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498182/?format=api",
"text_counter": 342,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Omboko Milemba",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 13328,
"legal_name": "Jeremiah Omboko Milemba",
"slug": "jeremiah-omboko-milemba"
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"content": " Very well. Hon. Oluoch, just for the record, you are the first in the list here, but the Leader of the Majority Party was within his time. He has just demonstrated how a Bill should be moved. It should not be a situation where you move a Bill for Second Reading in two statements and sit down. The Deputy Leader of the Majority Party, proceed."
},
{
"id": 1498183,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498183/?format=api",
"text_counter": 343,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kilifi North, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. From the onset, I second this Bill. Firstly, this is a timely Bill because it regulates and gives power on what to do in terms of revenue raising measures. This Bill gives effect to Article 209(5) of the Constitution, which defines the manner in which the national Government, through the National Treasury, may exercise its policy oversight role. It also establishes the processes where the county governments may exercise their taxation authority. There has been this idea that the national Government may not oversee county governments and that, it is only the Senate that can do that. But when it comes to money Bills, the National Assembly has the power to exercise oversight authority and policy on county governments. That is aptly done by this Bill. The Senate thinks that it has exclusive mandate to oversee county governments."
},
{
"id": 1498184,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498184/?format=api",
"text_counter": 344,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kilifi North, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
"speaker": null,
"content": "The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1498185,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498185/?format=api",
"text_counter": 345,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kilifi North, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
"speaker": null,
"content": "However, this Bill defines that the National Assembly has an oversight role in terms of policy on revenue raising measures. It also establishes the process whereby county governments may exercise taxation because it is a money matter, and money matters have their residence in this House. Secondly, this Bill further regulates the exercise by county governments of their power to impose taxes, levies and duties. County governments have power to do that, but this House has the power to regulate the exercise. Why do I say that this is a very important Bill? I will give a very good example. Sometimes back, the President chaired the Port Users Association meeting in Mombasa Port, which brought together all the port users in Mombasa County. I had the privilege to be in that meeting, together with Hon. Bady Bady and Hon. Ichung’wah. The port users, mostly the business people, including those from Uganda, Rwanda and other countries, informed us that if a container is in Mombasa and you transport it, once it leaves the Port, Mombasa County will charge a levy. When it gets to Taita Taveta, the county will also charge a levy. The same container will also be charged once it gets to Kajiado County. By the time it is crossing to Uganda, the trader has lost so much such that it defeats the purpose of having a port in the country because there is no regulation on how to charge levies. Each county decides the amount of money to charge. They informed us that it was too expensive to use Mombasa Port and so, they would rather shift to Dar-es-Salaam Port and other ports in the region because counties were charging a lot of money. If that container passes through 10 counties, then you have a problem. I like the way Hon. Ichung’wah has put it. Sometimes, counties may impose levies in a manner that jeopardises the country's progress. I would like you to hear me on this. The house construction industry is very important and the raw materials come from certain counties. Therefore, if those counties just charge levies, then they may make the building industry very expensive. For example, my county of Kilifi is known for having shellac and clinker. If a county government charges high levies on clinker, shellac, quarry dust and all those other things, what then happens to the price of cement in this country? It goes up!"
},
{
"id": 1498186,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498186/?format=api",
"text_counter": 346,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Omboko Milemba",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 13328,
"legal_name": "Jeremiah Omboko Milemba",
"slug": "jeremiah-omboko-milemba"
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"content": " Or price of sand from Ukambani."
},
{
"id": 1498187,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498187/?format=api",
"text_counter": 347,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kilifi North, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Yes. Or the price of sand from Ukambani. What happens to the construction industry that we want to grow in this country? It makes housing very expensive to construct and increases interest rates because of the demands for loans. The interest rates will go up because counties are levying high charges. This Bill, however, gives us an opportunity to regulate what counties are doing. We are not stopping them from levying, but we are telling them that, as they are charging those levies, they should understand that they also have a national duty to anchor the economy of the country very well, by ensuring the levies they are charging are good. Another example is that counties charge levies on bed occupancies in hotels. That can make it very expensive for tourism to grow in a country. The people who would want to invest in the hotel industry, for example, would say that if a county is charging them that much, apart from the levies that are charged by the national government, then they may not want to invest in such a country because of heavy levies and charges from a county. Land rates are determined by counties. If we impose high land rates on plots and properties, or make all properties in a country rentable, then investors would not want to invest in such a country and especially the coast area. Land becomes expensive due to the rates that are being charged. Who is regulating this, in order to ensure that we do not make investing in this country very expensive? This is the reason why this Bill is important. We need to vote for this Bill, pass it and have it assented to, so that we can ensure that this country grows and counties do not inhibit its growth."
},
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"id": 1498188,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498188/?format=api",
"text_counter": 348,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kilifi North, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
"speaker": null,
"content": "The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
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{
"id": 1498189,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498189/?format=api",
"text_counter": 349,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kilifi North, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
"speaker": null,
"content": "I was talking about bed occupancy in hotels. For example, a tourist comes and he is charged levies, he pays for his bed and then he is told that he has to pay county rates. He then asks himself, supposing he went to Zanzibar, would he pay the same? We have that kind of problem in this country where we do not have repeat visitors or guests. It makes marketing very expensive because the rates that are charged in hotels are very high. For example, we have a county charging a small hotel Ksh25,000 a month for garbage collection. That is passed by the county assembly in their finance bill. The same hotel plays music, and the county charges money for the music and noise pollution. The same county charges trade and public health licenses. I hope I am getting understood. When we put all those levies together, it makes it very expensive for one to operate that office because it is not regulated. In the ease of doing business in our country, Kenya is ranked as one of the countries that are improving, with the one-stop-shop where you pay all levies and taxes at one place. The issue of tax and levy administration itself becomes very expensive if it is not regulated. This is a very important piece of legislation that we must hasten, so as to make this country one that has good index in terms of ease of doing business. That is so as counties do not continue to impose levies."
},
{
"id": 1498190,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498190/?format=api",
"text_counter": 350,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Omboko Milemba",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 13328,
"legal_name": "Jeremiah Omboko Milemba",
"slug": "jeremiah-omboko-milemba"
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"content": " You are excitingly supporting this Bill and Kenyans are following. So, how is the Bill moderating or regulating this?"
},
{
"id": 1498191,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498191/?format=api",
"text_counter": 351,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kilifi North, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
"speaker": null,
"content": " This Bill provides for the definition of words or expressions that are used in it. I do not want to go into the clauses, but it also makes it possible to harmonise taxes and it makes it possible to exercise Article 209(5) of the Constitution to ensure that we have a seamless way of taxation, both at the national and county level. I second and support this Bill. It is, therefore, high time we passed it in order to make Kenya a good investment destination, and one that many people would want to do business in, including the port users, so that they are not frustrated because of the many levies that counties are levying."
}
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