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{
    "id": 1003354,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1003354/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 438,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Gatanga, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Joseph Nduati",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13338,
        "legal_name": "Joseph Nduati Ngugi",
        "slug": "joseph-nduati-ngugi-2"
    },
    "content": "On the road toll tax, I support it. It is a good way of developing our infrastructure. However, I want to say before we start charging our road users - because most of these projects have been proposed to be done through PPP - we need to reform the PPP secretariat. We do not have adequate staff, they are under-funded with a very lean staff. I do not think they have the technical capacity to undertake what is being promised here. I also want to say as a country we have suffered a lot. Most of the debts we are paying today are as a result of these projects being done under this arrangement, for example, the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). Some of these projects are designed in foreign countries, priced in foreign currencies and drawings submitted in foreign languages where our people cannot understand. For instance, SGR, I would personally say it was overpriced. A railway of about 400 kilometers priced at about Kshs400 billion; a billion per kilometer, is too expensive. Moreover, it is a mistake we made of not involving our people in the design. Kenyans are well educated and they should get involved in these projects. This idea of having these projects done and we say we are going to give Kenyans 30 per cent and it does not happen is wrong. When we were constructing the SGR nothing was left here. The Government invested Kshs400 billion and yet Kenyans gained nothing apart from manual jobs. On taxing pensioners as my colleagues have said, I want to congratulate the Chair for dropping that idea. It is not right to tax our aged people as has been said. Most of them suffer from many diseases and we need to support them. On digital services tax, Chairman I want to encourage you and your team. This is an area we need to tax. Even if the youth are involved in these projects, our youths have not said that they are not interested in paying tax. We need to train them when they are still very young to pay tax. Who will pay for them? Do you want to encourage them not to pay tax from when they are 20 years? When they get to 35 years, is it the time they will start paying? You will be encouraging them from the start to dodge taxes. Therefore, I want to encourage the idea. Let us charge them. On the Tax Procedures Act, Chair you have told us there is now a voluntary disclosure programme which we support. I remember when former President Kibaki became the President of this country he introduced the same scheme and many Kenyans got into the tax bracket. I have seen the proposal is that implementation is from 1st January 2021. We want Kenyans to start paying taxes immediately. We have many projects which we want to implement. Can we start paying from 1st July or when this law takes effect? We do not have to delay until 2021."
}