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{
    "id": 1060382,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1060382/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 161,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Molo, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kuria Kimani",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13435,
        "legal_name": "Francis Kuria Kimani",
        "slug": "francis-kuria-kimani"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me a chance to add my voice to the debate on the Business Laws (Amendment) Bill of 2021. This Bill seeks to address the issues of ease of doing business. The report on the ease of doing business raised last year shows Kenya to be number 120 out of 190. That is dismal performance considering that we have prided ourselves in being one of the best countries in Africa in terms of ease of doing business. Research has shown that entrepreneurs in low income countries spend 50 per cent of their per capita income to just launch a company and get it running compared to 4.2 per cent in developed countries. What does that mean? This means that a company opening in Kenya will spend 50 per cent of its per capital income, compared to 4.2 per cent for a company offering similar services in the United Kingdom. No wonder despite Kenya signing very many trade agreements with various countries in the world, we still have a deficit balance of trade. So, with that disadvantage when a company is kicking off, it means no matter how much we try to take advantage of these trade agreements, we do not get anywhere. We are at 50 per cent expenses while they are at 4.2 per cent. So, does this Bill treat this disease of expensiveness, difficulty and easiness of doing business? I asked myself what the parameters that measure the ease of doing business are and they include and are not limited to, when doing business registration, the procedures you follow, how much you spend and how much it costs you. When you need to do a construction, how easy is it to get the construction permits and what is the ease of accessing electricity? I dare say that Kenya is one of the few countries with too many companies dealing with only electricity. We have companies like Geothermal Development Company and the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) doing power generation. Another Government parastatal, namely, the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) does transmission and another company, namely, the Kenya Power does billing and utilisation of power. Therefore, this has made power one of the most expensive in our region. How easy is it to register property when you decide to buy or lease in this particular country? How easy is it to get credit? Are Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) protected? How easy is it to pay taxes? How easy is it to trade across borders? How do we ensure that you enforce contracts and how do you solve insolvency and use ICT in your operations? I looked at these parameters and asked myself if the amendments proposed by the Leader of the Majority Party will address them, and I will say yes. On the issue of paying taxes, there are statutory deductions like the NHIF, the NSSF and PAYE. As an accountant, I will tell you that it is quite a pain at the end of the month because there are those that lapse on the 5th day and others are supposed to be paid on the 9th and 11th day. Therefore, the regularisation of one date for the payment of these levies is a great way to ensure easiness in terms of paying our taxes. Let us talk about Stamp Duty on contracts. I think the only time Kenyans think about stamps is when sending success cards to our Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates, only to imagine in 2021 that we still have Stamp Duties imposed on contracts. The removal of Stamp Duty on enforcing our contracts is a step in the right direction. What about company seal? Imagine in 2021 you still have to carry that metallic thing to sign on documents. How do you even carry it in a country where we are talking about digital signatures? So, the removal of the requirement to use the company seal is a step in the right direction in terms of ease of doing business. 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."
}