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"id": 1498222,
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"content": ": Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for allowing me to contribute to this Bill that is on the Floor of the House. As outlined in the introduction of the Bill, the purpose of this Bill is to regulate the process of tax imposition by the county governments. When you read the title of the Bill, you might think that you are overstepping the mandate of the Senate regarding their function to look at the issues and the interests of the county governments. However, this House also has a policy oversight role that has to look into the issues that are affecting this country, whether in the county government set-up or the national Government set-up. In any case, those two levels of government exist inter-dependently, and we cannot separate them."
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"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": 1498224,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498224/?format=api",
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"speaker": null,
"content": "Hon. Temporary Speaker, having gone through this Bill, I have noticed it has 11 clauses. It is packed and short. This Bill does not set specific taxes that the county governments have to levy. It does not take away the innovativeness of the county governments and leadership to think outside the box and know where to levy taxes. This Bill speaks to the process of ensuring that the tax imposition, be it in the national Government or the county government, is not only standard, but also friendly and conforms to the Constitution."
},
{
"id": 1498225,
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"text_counter": 385,
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"speaker": null,
"content": "I have noted that this Bill has endeavoured to define several words. I happen to have had an opportunity to serve in the county assembly previously. While there, we used to have a lot of issues, back and forth between the definitions of some of those items, especially when it came to the PFM Act and the County Governments Act, and I am glad that this particular Bill has endeavoured to define some of those words technically to provide exactness so that we do not have litigations. This is because most of the litigations that we have are majorly on interpretation of some of the explanations that have been given to some of the words that are used in these Bills."
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"text_counter": 386,
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"speaker": null,
"content": "The process for introducing taxes and other measures has been assigned a specific timeline, requiring it to be completed 10 months before the start of the financial year. There have been problems with budgets in the county governments. The people in the county governments have an insatiable need to run after time, like someone who has booked a ticket, the flight leaves at 6:10 a.m., and they are busy running with their bags to the airport at 6:11 a.m. This is exactly what they do down there, and we end up with a circus and mayhem in the counties where the money is not there. Therefore, the people who offer services that are integral to the people down their tools because of inefficiencies. I hope that the provision that stipulates that it has to be provided 10 months before the financial year commences can help somehow ― but not entirely. That is because there is an array of issues in that matter ― to bring some sanity so that people can settle on what they are going to tax, how much and then be able to do their budgets and the bills for the next financial year."
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"id": 1498227,
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"speaker": null,
"content": "The Bill also tries to address the issue of double taxation, which I appreciate because we often go through double taxation. I come from a county that has the multinationals ― the Tea Zones. We have had a problem for four years, which persists due to the levies. We wanted them to give some of the levies to the county governments, but they are constantly challenged in court on the grounds that it is double taxation. You cannot tax items that are set aside to be taxed by the national Government, and you come again as a county government to tax it. I believe this will help address the issue of double taxation and other items and services that cross county borders. I hope this is going to help in that part."
},
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"id": 1498228,
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"speaker": null,
"content": "We have a transition clause that I am a bit jittery about. The IBEC has the responsibility to deal with those matters. The Bill proposes a five-member Inter-Agency Transitional Committee to be established by the Cabinet Secretary to review all fees and charges to be imposed by county governments prior to the commencement of this Act. I have a little problem with this. As much as the IGRTC, in a sense, is able to relate the national Government and the county government here, I still feel the provision is inadequate. Of course, I would like to see whether we can amend this part so that it makes more sense and does not look like it is over- stepping. Of course, there is some wisdom in it, but I do not entirely agree with it."
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"id": 1498229,
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"text_counter": 389,
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"speaker": null,
"content": "Lastly, there are so many loopholes in the county governments with regard to taxes. I appreciate the governors who have done their bit to ensure that they are able to make maximum use of the local own source revenue. Each of our counties has the capacity and the ability to run most, if not all, of their programs using their own source revenue, if only they can seal the loopholes between the collection and use of taxes. I think those are the responsibilities of county governments and the leadership, and they should seal loopholes. If that happens, it will reduce the pressure on the shareable revenue from the national Government. It will reduce the"
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"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": 1498231,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498231/?format=api",
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"speaker": null,
"content": "pressure on the demands, some of which are unsubstantiated on the national Government and the National Treasury. All in all, I support this Bill apart from a small reservation I have regarding Clause 8, which refers to the Inter-Agency Transitional Committee. I support it, and I hope it goes to fruition so that we can have better processes for collecting revenues in our counties."
}
]
}