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{
    "id": 1043617,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1043617/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 249,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ugunja, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Opiyo Wandayi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2960,
        "legal_name": "James Opiyo Wandayi",
        "slug": "james-opiyo-wandayi"
    },
    "content": "introduce amendments to the tax regime that eventually led to a reduction in revenues. That is, again, a fact that we cannot debate. So, we find ourselves, as someone said earlier on, between a rock and a hard place, as it were. But, then, what do we do as a country? Article 43 of our Constitution guarantees economic and social rights to the citizens of this country. The Government is under obligation to support Kenyans in meeting their economic and social rights like provision of water, health, education and other social services. However, for the Government to do that, it requires revenue or money. Therefore, even as I support this Amendment Bill to enable the Government to generate more revenue from taxation so as to provide the social services that are critical for the wellbeing of the citizens, we must also relook at our priorities. That is important. We cannot continue to bury our heads in the sand like the proverbial ostrich and assume that things are normal. We cannot continue to operate as if things are normal and yet, we are in an abnormal situation. There is a tendency in this country for projects to be started all over. As we speak, there are projects striding the landscape from one border to the other border. The projects are either incomplete or stalled. So, the question is: What logic is there in starting projects which we are unable to finance to completion for them to support Kenyans in one way or the other? So, the starting point is, and I offer this suggestion, let us pass this Bill to let the Government generate more revenues to support Kenyans. But let us also make the Government to understand that it cannot be business as usual. First thing, let the Government avoid starting new projects if it knows there is no money to complete them. Perhaps, we could say that the only projects we should only consider are those which are supported by development partners together with Kenya. Also important is the fact that those projects are not well thought out. We find projects which are conceived and initiated in a manner that points to recklessness. I want us to support this Bill for the simple reason that if we do not do so, we shall be getting to a worse situation as a country. In fact, we risk getting into a situation where the country’s populace is going to rise up because there are people who are dying because of lack of social support. That support cannot happen if there is no money that the Government can use to support them."
}