Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1079795,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1079795/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 253,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kitui Central, WDM-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Makali Mulu",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1955,
        "legal_name": "Benson Makali Mulu",
        "slug": "benson-makali-mulu"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I will start by joining my colleagues to appreciate the Chairperson and the Vice- Chairperson of this Committee for the job they have done in moving this important Bill. I want to agree with those who are saying that this Bill is one of the most important Bills in this House. That is also confirmed by the kind of public participation it attracts. If you look at those who contributed to this Bill through public participation, it is a long list of important institutions and individuals in this country. This is the only Bill that touches every Kenyan. You could be rich or poor. This is one of the Bills where this House should be full to debate it. It is going to affect the people that vote for us. We should be here to say if it good for our people or it is not good for them. Before I get to the Bill itself, I want to say that two hours ago, we went through the Second Reading of the Appropriation Bill that was presented by the Budget and Appropriations Committee. In that Bill, we are likely to be approving serious amounts to be spent in the next financial year. I want to mention one of the things that has not come out. In that Bill, we have set aside money for what I will call “oversight bodies”. These are bodies like the Auditor-General, the Controller of Budget and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. One of the things we should be doing is to make sure that the money that goes to these oversight bodies that assist Parliament to do its work, is seriously used and its budget implementation is done properly. Why am I saying that? The revenue-raising measures being proposed in this Bill are not friendly to anybody. Nobody wants to give out money and not get value for it. It is going to be painful to Wanjiku and everybody having their money deducted to support public good. It is important that budget implementation is taken very seriously in this country. There are quite a number of good things in the Bill, but you know, this is taxation. I totally agree with those who say no taxation without representation. You tax people, so they need to be represented. That is why Members are here to represent people. The idea of the Treasury thinking that they can get that proposal to not be overseen by Parliament when it comes to regulation- making should not be there. I really do not want to waste time on that issue. It has been deliberated and we stand by it. On the issue of bread, I think as a House, we need to agree on one thing. Taxation of basic commodities, commodities without which you will die, should be avoided. Whether it is done through zero-rating or tax exemption, we must make sure that things that the common mwananchi uses on a day-to-day basis, even if taxation is applied, it has to be minimal taxation. We should not allow our people to sleep without food. In this country, there are people who live on bread and black tea only. They just boil black tea without tea leaves. It is where you burn sugar to become black before you add water. So, when you talk about taxing bread for such a person, it means you do not live in Kenya. We must guard against taxing basic commodities. There is another interesting proposal where the KRA is supposed to give more money to people who report on those who avoid tax. The proposal is to move from Kshs100,000 to Kshs500,000, so long as they recover between Kshs2 million and Kshs5 million. This is a good 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."
}