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{
    "id": 1079427,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1079427/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 125,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Navakholo, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Emmanuel Wangwe",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2543,
        "legal_name": "Emmanuel Wangwe",
        "slug": "emmanuel-wangwe"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Finance Bill by the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning. I also congratulate Hon. Wanga for the very exemplary presentation. I support this Bill on a few grounds which I would want to enumerate. For instance, the Cabinet Secretary has taken a tax structure of broadening the base; it is the horizontal rather than the vertical approach. This means that there is no increment in tax to the Kenyan people but he has brought on board a wider base where most of the Kenyans who have not been contributing to the taxes shall now have to pay. I also want to support this Bill based on the proposals in the Committee’s Report. The proposals that they have laid down are worthy supporting the Bill especially during this Second reading. The Committee is recommending that they will be proposing amendments especially to the taxation on motorcycles. The proposals in the Bill shall now fall and instead the issues raised towards increment in taxation on motorcycles will have to be lowered in terms of cost. I come from a constituency where the main occupation by the youth is motorcycles. Therefore, if you increase the cost on motorcycles, you will have as well have increased the cost of living of my people. Therefore, through the Committee’s recommendations, I want to believe that this is something to push on. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, bread is as good as history in our Bible. If you increase the cost of bread, you actually touch on the livelihood of the Kenyan people. Those who would want to have a piece of bread will now have to pay more. But now that the Cabinet Secretary has not touched on the increment in terms of taxes on bread, this is something that we have to look at and appreciate. However, Kenyans are making this Budget at a time when there is a very unique scenario - the corona pandemic. This is something we need to look at. It is something that we must accept and live with it. Therefore, when you look at how the Cabinet Secretary is consolidating to raise funds to fund the budget, he has assessed the situation, looked at the issues surrounding the pandemic and made proposals that are a bit reasonable. In future, I would want him to look at the taxes in fuel and petroleum. Everywhere, petroleum is like the spinal cord in a human being in our economy. It spreads from the head to the toes. If you touch on petroleum in terms of taxes, you touch on every Kenyan; be it the small scale to the wealthy. I want to ask the Cabinet Secretary to look at means and ways on how to cut on the cost of petroleum in the country vis-a-vis the region. Petroleum passing through Kenya to Uganda is cheaper than that in Kenya. This is something that he should assess and look into. For example, the railway tax and other taxes can be reduced if they are contributing to the cost of petroleum so that Kenyans can afford petroleum. In summary, I want to agree with the Cabinet Secretary and insist that this House should not allow the waiver he wants to take from Parliament. We should not allow that authority to move from the House to the Cabinet Secretary. We must caution him not to amend the laws that were passed by Kenyans from the back door. Let him live up to the works that he was appointed to do. We should punish him for attempting to hit on to the laws that we were given by the people. That is attempting on our sovereignty. He is trying to provoke this House and we do not want him to go that route. We will excuse him for now since it is the first time, but let him not try to do it again. We want him to live up to the laws that the country gave him and not for him to attempt to decide that he can make taxes for Kenyans. 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."
}