Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1019613,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1019613/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 327,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ndhiwa, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Martin Owino",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13449,
        "legal_name": "Martin Peters Owino",
        "slug": "martin-peters-owino"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I rise to support the Bill. I want to thank the Committee Chair, Hon. Gladys Wanga, for taking up this Bill immediately because time is of essence. Citizens are paying taxes very faithfully because they expect improved lives and businesses. Whatever is happening now in the counties is pathetic. The county governments are using all sorts of crude weapons to collect revenues: Personal receipts, semi-government personal receipts, skewed automations for their own good, right to pocket, and others give official waivers to friends to get back what they had calculated. Some even barricade roads for boda bodas and matatus . They have created chaos by design to thrive in at the expense of fellow citizens. The objective of this Bill sounds relevant. It seeks to achieve uniformity, transparency and reporting systems annually. I want to inform the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning that it is possible to have the best system. But failure to have a way of enforcing it means that it will be flouted. When it comes to Section 160(c)(2) that the Leader of the Majority Party alluded to, I want to request the Committee to consider deleting the word “may” and replace it with the word “shall”. If the Senate has already recommended, then the CS, National Treasury will have no choice. The word “may” is not punishable. We will never get what we intend to achieve if that is not reinforced. The fidelity will never be there. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, as much as we want to punish those who will not adopt this system, it is also fair to motivate those who will adopt and use the system. The fairness should be in re-ploughing back efficiently the monies they have collected and submitted to the National Treasury. There is a lot of frustration there. They can collect and submit especially from the hospitals, where they have not been allowed to use now and the money takes ages to come back. That can be demotivating and can promote corruption. The National Treasury should be swift in disbursement of monies as a way of motivating counties that will adopt and use this system."
}