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{
    "id": 1079722,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1079722/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 180,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Gladys Wanga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 590,
        "legal_name": "Gladys Atieno Nyasuna",
        "slug": "gladys-atieno-nyasuna"
    },
    "content": "COVID-19 without using syringes. This is because it is not an oral vaccine. Therefore, the Committee proposes to return syringes to the list of exempt items because it is important to keep them there especially during this COVID period. The other item the Committee has proposed to retain is infant baby formula; a matter that Hon. Shakeel is very passionate about because he has four infants. He says he spends a huge sum of money on baby formula every week. To save on our mothers and our fathers who have infants, we believe that it is not time to tax baby formula at this point. Hon. Speaker, the other item that the public is very passionate about is ordinary bread. This is because ordinary bread is stable for most families in Kenya today. Ordinarily the Committee proposes that it is allowed to remain zero-rated. This is because even if you say that you are moving it to exempt and say the government is going to raise revenue, the revenue you are raising is just going to be put on the wananchi. Therefore, we are only going to raise the cost of bread. There is a proposal to retain the cost of ordinary bread, flour, and all these things that relate to the issues of bread and eating. The basics at this time should be retained under zero rates. This is so that Kenyans have a bit of a lighter load. However, the Committee is also cognisant of the fact that we must raise money. Therefore, we will be making proposals concerning where we feel money can be found so that the basic Kenyans can be protected but other people can pay the money so that there is no gap or hole in the revenue raising plan. Hon. Speaker, bread is one of them and flour is another. There is the proposal to remove the role of Parliament in consideration of VAT regulations. The Committee considered that and the Bill seeks to delete the role of Parliament in dealing with VAT regulations. Therefore, the Committee considered and said that this provision to remove the role of Parliament must be deleted so that Parliament retains its power in dealing with the issue of regulations of VAT, and so that on behalf of all the people we represent, Parliament can have oversight over this very critical matter. Hon. Speaker, on the issue of Excise Duty, the Bill was proposing to amend rate of Excise Duty on motorcycles from Ksh11, 608 to 15 per cent of the excisable value. While the National Treasury made a spirited explanation on this matter, it might be a bit too complicated for this to be understood now and we fear that vendors might take advantage just of that change to overcharge motorcycle vendors. Therefore, we felt that since it is not even raising that much more revenue we should remove it and have a better explanation so that as we move forward, we do so with the previous position in mind. Hon. Speaker, the Committee is unanimous that we need to support the"
}