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{
    "id": 1079490,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1079490/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 188,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kinangop, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Zachary Thuku",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13380,
        "legal_name": "Zachary Kwenya Thuku",
        "slug": "zachary-kwenya-thuku"
    },
    "content": " Yes, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I wish to thank you for this opportunity to support the Finance Bill of 2021. At the outset, I want to applaud the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning under the able leadership of the Hon. Member for Homa Bay County and the Vice-Chair, Hon. Member for Roysambu, for bringing such a Bill that is people friendly. This is a true testimony that we have a membership that is a true representation of the people and which looks at issues that are not going to be hard hitting on the people that we represent especially on the issue of zero-rating the things that we consume everyday like unga, bread and so forth. I also want to take an issue with the way we do our thing and this is a debate for another day. It was brought about by one Hon. Member, Hon. Alfred Keter on the issue of what should come first. Is it the horse or the cart? If you are talking about how we are going to raise money to service our budget, what should come first then, is it the Budget, Appropriation or the Finance Bill. From where I sit, I believe we should start with how we raise the money so that we can plan for the same. As it is today, the cart is ahead of the horse. This is a debate for another day which we need to re-look at. In the same breath, I want to applaud the committee for thwarting every attempt by the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Treasury in an attempt to take powers that belong to the National Assembly in matters to do with regulating the VAT, because that is the preserve of the National Assembly and which is enshrined in the Constitution. This is a true testimony that the committee was thorough and listened to the stakeholder who give their input on this matter. You realise that Statutory Instrument Act gives the Cabinet Secretaries the powers to legislate, albeit in a delegated way, where they make regulations that go through a committee of this House that is, Committee on Delegated Legislation. I want to bring to your attention that maybe we need to re-look into the Statutory Instruments Act because we find that there are regulations that are being passed by the Committee on Delegated Legislation, that are really hurting our people. I am talking from a point of pain because we have farmers in my constituency. We grow potatoes and there were some regulations that were passed in 2019 by the said committee, that were brought about by the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture then. Our farmers are required to register if they were going to do any form of potato farming. They were also supposed to have an association for them to do any potato marketing. It is high time we relooked at this kind of legislation or regulation that is passed by the Committee on Delegated Legislation. If for sure, the only thing that gets to this House is the regulation that has been rejected by the committee, then it is self-defeating. As a House, we need to see what is passed by the said Committee on Delegated Legislation. On the issue of tax relief on NHIF, this is timely and I think it has come in too late. You find that all other insurance covers enjoy tax relief and introducing this to the NHIF is going to ensure that many citizens contribute so that they can enjoy the benefit of the same. In fact, this is going to bring us closer to actualisation of universal health coverage. There is an issue of tax rebates to organisations that give internship to TVET students. For any country or economy to get to industrialisation, this is the way to go. The way to go is to make sure that we empower and give opportunity to people who are doing technical courses, so that we have capacity. That will encourage many organisations to give internships to our students who are going to help us in the take-off to industrialisation. I wish to take this opportunity to support this Bill and to congratulate the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning for a job well done. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. 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."
}