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{
"id": 1499012,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1499012/?format=api",
"text_counter": 606,
"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": 1499013,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1499013/?format=api",
"text_counter": 607,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kilifi North, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
"speaker": null,
"content": "have four of those, and Kenya is one of them. So, that is about KESRA. The Bill seeks to give it power to collaborate with other institutions."
},
{
"id": 1499014,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1499014/?format=api",
"text_counter": 608,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kilifi North, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Clause 2 of the Bill proposes to amend Section 5 of the Kenya Revenue Authority Act to provide a legal framework for KESRA to offer or collaborate with other institutions of higher learning to provide programmes in revenue administration, develop curricula, assess or examine students, and award qualifications."
},
{
"id": 1499015,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1499015/?format=api",
"text_counter": 609,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kilifi North, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Clause 3 of the Bill proposes to amend Section 13 of the Kenya Revenue Authority Act to provide that the Deputy Commissioners shall be appointed by the Commissioner-General. Previously, the law provided for the appointment of the Deputy Commissioners by the Board. In my view, this is a bit controversial, and we need to amend it. So, Hon. (Dr) Oundo, please, prepare to bring an amendment on that. I personally think we need to give the power to the Board, not the Commissioner-General, as the law currently provides. The amendment is in line with good corporate governance practices, where the Commissioner-General or the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is responsible for the staff of the institution, while the Board appoints the Commissioner-General only. However, that is debatable. The Bill seeks to amend Section 15A of the Act to give the Cabinet Secretary power to waive the penalty that is payable by an appointed agent who fails to transfer funds that are collected, if the failure was inadvertent. That is very important. Or the person has been put under receivership or statutory management. That is a key pillar of this Bill. Members need to think through it. I do not know whether Hon. (Dr) Oundo got this correct, but that is what this Bill is trying to do. I want Hon. (Dr) Oundo to take note. I know you taught at the university earlier than me. No, I think almost the same time. The Bill seeks to amend Section 15A of the Act to give the Cabinet Secretary power to waive the penalty payable by an appointed agent who fails to transfer funds that are collected, if the failure was inadvertent, or the person has been put under receivership or statutory management. That is what Clause 4 intends to do. Hon. Deputy Speaker, this section provides that the Commissioner may appoint agents for even new banking services who are qualified to transfer all the funds that are collected to Central Bank of Kenya accounts. It also provides for a penalty, where an agent fails to transfer the funds. The amendment recognises that for various reasons not deliberated on the part of the agents, they may be unable to remit the funds. Therefore, the amendment is to allow the Cabinet Secretary to waive the penalty in the case of system downtime or non-compliance that is not deliberate, receivership or statutory management and Force-Majeure . Sometimes, an agent may fail to remit funds, not because he wanted to, but at the time when he wants to remit funds, the system is on downtime. And if there is downtime, then it might attract a penalty not because he wanted to, but it was inadvertent. Therefore, we give the Cabinet Secretary power to waive the penalty, not the payment. The penalty on the money that has not been remitted on time. Hon. Deputy Speaker, in summary - and I can see the Member of Parliament for Kathiani is listening very keenly - the Bill is important for the following reasons: 1. It will empower the Kenyan School of Revenue Administration to collaborate with other institutions, which is important. 2. It will streamline Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) operations in the appointment of deputy commissioners. 3. It will protect business and entrench fair tax administration. 4. It will enable the waiving of penalties in exceptional cases. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I, therefore, urge Members to support the Bill. This is a small Bill. It has just four clauses that we are amending, I have made it easy for anybody who is listening to understand what this Bill is about. There are certain issues that we may want to"
},
{
"id": 1499016,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1499016/?format=api",
"text_counter": 610,
"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": 1499017,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1499017/?format=api",
"text_counter": 611,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kilifi North, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
"speaker": null,
"content": "amend as Parliament because this is a proposal that is coming in. I believe the appointment of the Deputy Commissioners of KRA should not be done by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). It should be done by the Board and not the CEO. This is debatable, but the Bill proposes that the CEO be allowed to appoint Deputy Commissioners. Unilaterally, I think there must be checks and balances so as to ensure that it is done properly. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move and request the Hon. (Dr) Oundo, a learned man from “The University of Nairobi”, to second. Thank you."
},
{
"id": 1499018,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1499018/?format=api",
"text_counter": 612,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Deputy Speaker",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Hon. (Dr) Oundo, proceed."
},
{
"id": 1499019,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1499019/?format=api",
"text_counter": 613,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) Ojiambo Oundo",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Hon. Deputy Speaker, let me thank the Hon. Deputy Leader of the Majority Party in the National Assembly for asking me to second the Kenya Revenue Authority (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, (National Assembly Bill, No. 35 of 2024). Hon. Deputy Speaker, as I support, I just want to raise a few concerns here and there, because this Bill is published under the name of Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah, the Hon. Leader of the Majority Party. Indeed, I would imagine, so to speak, in the old constitutional dispensation, it would be called a Government Bill. So, it must have gone through a bit of consultations before it was published. Even the Mover himself, who happens to be the owner of the Bill, has misgivings on some of these clauses. That probably reinforces the view that is held outside there that probably, this House could easily become a conveyor belt. But that is beside the point. I stand here to support the Bill as moved by the Leader of the Majority Party. Of course, like any typical Bill, it is now the property of the National Assembly. The National Assembly can do with it whatever it wants to do until it gets to the final end. It is a short Bill basically to put a few things here and there. I have misgivings on Clause 2(a). We need to review it. This is because it is allowing the Kenya School of Revenue and Administration (KESRA) to develop a curricula, assessment or examination of students and awarding of certificates. For an institution to award a certificate and ensure the certificate is recognised internationally or in other places, there must be a process of certification or accreditation. I hope and pray that it is the intention of the Mover of the Bill to seek accreditation from the Council of University Education. This is because if they collaborate with an institution of higher learning, it has only to be the university, or they will seek authority from the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Authority, as well as Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC). Otherwise, their certificates will only be good to work at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and nowhere else within this country or outside. This is an area in which we must apply ourselves and see how to amend to make sure that it is in tandem with the reality. Clause 3 of the Bill is the most mischievous. I wonder how somebody who really believes in the tenets of corporate governance would want to give the commissioner the absolute authority to appoint his or her deputies. This is a complete abuse of power. As I second, I hope the Committee that is involved has seen the mischief here. I request them to seek a complete deletion of the clause. Clause 4 is another fairly controversial one. An agent is required to collect taxes on behalf of KRA. The date of remission or submission is clearly agreed upon in good time. To talk about system failure is really handing the agent the right or the opportunity to abuse that privilege. In any case, if you know the last day will be tomorrow, a prudent professional or manager as an agent, will seek authority to remit in fairly good time because when the system gets clogged, it will obviously delay. Somebody can actually use it to misbehave. Again, I would believe that when the Commissioner appoints an agent, he will put into place adequate measures to ensure that the agent is solvent. To imagine that such an event or notification of the person that has been put under receivership or statutory management to"
},
{
"id": 1499020,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1499020/?format=api",
"text_counter": 614,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) Ojiambo Oundo",
"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": 1499021,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1499021/?format=api",
"text_counter": 615,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) Ojiambo Oundo",
"speaker": null,
"content": "prevents the transfer of funds, I would have thought that KRA would have done due diligence to ensure that the agent is financially sound. When one is put under receivership or under statutory management, there must have been a process. Once such an intention is filed, at that particular moment, KRA should terminate the agent's agreement so that the Kenyan taxpayers do not miss out any money. As I conclude, KRA is central to the survival and management of the affairs of this country. We continuously plead and request that they should also ensure they do not kill businesses but, rather, support businesses in view of the hard economic times. Likewise, as has been ventilated here before, let KRA reflect the face of Kenya so that every Kenyan can feel as part and parcel of that gravy train that normally generates everything. Of course, during our days, there was only one university - The University of Nairobi. Those other small colleges have just emerged over time to compete with it. With those few remarks, I second."
}
]
}