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"id": 1026633,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1026633/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Homa Bay CWR, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Gladys Wanga",
"speaker": {
"id": 590,
"legal_name": "Gladys Atieno Nyasuna",
"slug": "gladys-atieno-nyasuna"
},
"content": "The COVID-19 has really affected our MSMEs. If you think about eateries; bars, they are going to go further down following His Excellency the President’s Speech yesterday; salons, many women are now preferring to wear wigs; barber shops, many of our brothers are now preferring to be shaven in their houses. They ask their sons and spouses to cut their hair; transport sector; private schools, we talked about them earlier and Members said that the enterprises surrounding schools and universities, be it hostels or business people selling eggs around them; and small shops. This morning I visited small shops that trade in ladies’ items, they said they usually import these items and now the cost of importation is high. They said, if they were to place that cost on the items, people would barely buy them, as they have all been deeply affected. This is where we are coming from. Therefore, it was a game changer for the President to put in the Ksh3 billion for credit guarantee scheme. We received many submissions on this Bill. I would like to take Members through, clause by clause briefly so that they can have them in mind for contributions. The second Clause deals with definitions. It has defined what a “Medium Enterprise” is, but it has referred to the definitions of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises from the MSMEs Act, 2012. So, a micro enterprise is defined as a business that has an annual turnover of less than ksh500,000. If you look at this business, it is one with a daily turnover of maybe Ksh1,000 or Ksh1,300, that is what we are looking at here. Anyone could be wondering, if this is an elitist scheme, it is not. We are dealing with businesses with as low as an annual turnover of Ksh500,000 which breaks down to about Ksh1,300 in a day. “Small Enterprises” are defined as those with an annual turnover of between Ksh500,000 and Ksh5 million. Now, the Bill is introducing a definition for a “Medium Enterprise”, which is a business with an annual turnover of less than Ksh100 million. Therefore, the scope of MSMEs is covered all the way from a small M-PESA shop to a big business with an annual turnover of less than Ksh100 million. So, in Clause 3 we are dealing mainly with aligning reporting. In Clause 4, the amendments are introduced. This is the heartbeat of the Bill, where we seek to amend the conditionalities for guaranteeing loans to MSMEs Clause 5 deals with the issue of reporting. The Cabinet Secretary will now have permission to develop regulations to deal with the nitty gritty of who will be lent, how it will be done, how to apply, and when one qualifies. Those will be covered within the regulations. We received submissions from the National Treasury, the Africa Women’s Studies Centre at the University of Nairobi, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), the State Department for Trade and Enterprise Development, and the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority. We also received submissions from the Office of the Auditor-General. Even though the Auditor-General’s submissions were not relevant, they were very important. They dealt a bit with what Hon. Wandayi was raising earlier in terms of timing for audits. The Auditor-General raised the issue that when you say the auditees should bring in their reports three months after the end of the financial year, everybody brings their reports at the end of the third month. Therefore, the Auditor-General has a very short period of time within which to audit and submit reports within the constitutional timelines. So, even though the submissions were not relevant, I found them very important. And the Committee will look for a way, with your guidance Hon. Speaker, of ensuring that these matters are carried, if not in these amendments then in another substantive amendment on its own. The issues that the Auditor-General raised are very substantive. These are some of the submissions that we received. It is important to note that measures have to be put in place to ensure enterprises owned by women, youth and persons with disabilities"
}