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{
    "id": 1003322,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1003322/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 406,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Seme, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) James Nyikal",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 434,
        "legal_name": "James Nyikal",
        "slug": "james-nyikal"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. Let me also start by appreciating the work that the Committee has done because this Finance Bill is coming at a time when we have a very serious economic challenge arising from the pandemic. So, we are in a situation where we actually have a big budget deficit, so, we need to get taxes so that we can bridge the gap. At the same time, we must struggle so that we do not overburden our people who are already overburdened by the effects of the pandemic. So, I appreciate the work that they have done. I will not repeat what has been said, but I will comment on a few things. On the issue of public-private partnership and road tolls, this is a good thing. However, we must remember that we have actually done it before. We had a toll station at Naivasha along the Nairobi-Kisumu highway, but just because of graft, it did not work. They used to collect money and keep it. They hid the funds. It is a good thing to do but we must look at the issue of graft and its management. I presume that if the private sector does it, they will probably be keener. However, in the past, it did not work well because of graft. It is a good idea and I support it. I also want to just single out the issue of unclaimed financial assets. It is good to remove it from the Capital Markets Authority and leave it to the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority. So many people invest and nobody knows they have invested. Even our savings and the mobile money platforms that we use, the amount of money that remains in them when somebody dies are unclaimed. So, this is one authority that should be strengthened so that people can get their claims back. If relatives of the deceased do not surface, the Authority should find ways of getting them. That is a good thing that I have noted there. There should be an amendment so that we are quite sure when to appeal to the Insurance Regulatory Authority. That is also a good thing. We cannot have things that are not properly defined. It is difficult. Our laws here will tell you that if things are not defined, you cannot benefit. So, that is a good thing to do. The commission that the KRA gets has to be capped. The fact that they get a commission on what they collect encourages them to collect more and as a Member said, they should go into modern ways of collection because over the years, the percentage of the tax we collect as GDP is going down. So, they should be encouraged, but they should get to collect the tax. There should be amendment to the Retirement Benefits Authority so that they submit actuarial reports. If there is no proper actuarial study in insurance and pension schemes they always fail. Then they fail with people’s money in terms of pension. The only way is to, at every point, study whether the collection and the investment they are making is actuarially sustainable. I think that is a good report I have seen there. Even if you look at the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) which is not a benefit scheme but an insurance scheme, you also need frequent actuarial studies. We have gone into benefits that we cannot sustain. If you ask about their actuarial basis, you do not get it. To put the retirement benefit schemes into law is an extremely good thing. 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."
}