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{
    "id": 1079814,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1079814/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 272,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Emuhaya, ANC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Omboko Milemba",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13328,
        "legal_name": "Jeremiah Omboko Milemba",
        "slug": "jeremiah-omboko-milemba"
    },
    "content": "i is not be hurt. My predecessor speaker was trying to allude to the French Revolution where the price of bread became too high that those in the civility and the nobles who were living in the palaces did not know that the normal mwananchi could not afford cakes, leave alone bread. He did not also mention the number of shoes that that lady, Maria Antoinette, had. Her pairs of shoes were overwhelming. That description in history shows the difference and gap in living standards between those who were rich and those who were poor and it is very important that we remain with the local man when it comes to issues of taxation. So, let them be protected. The next person to protect is the boda boda person. I know even if I do not have time, I will just pick three items. The boda boda industry, given the high level of unemployment, has employed too many youths on the ground. The boda boda industry has overcome the old system where our teachers, and I am a teacher myself, were the main controllers of the economy in the village. Currently, if you go to your constituencies, you realise that the boda boda industry is the main arm guarding the village economy. These are people who come out without any capital at all. They go into business by the first item renting the item we call pikipiki; motorcycle. They only pay a certain rent on a motorcycle, but they are actually rented from an owner. Therefore, it has a chain. It has a multiplier effect within the society. The owner of the pikipiki may not be the rider. The rider is only paying rent to an owner of the pikipiki. I want to support the Committee and the Chair that this is an area we should not go to in terms of raising any form of tax for the boda boda riders. If anything, we should be thinking or removing any other form of taxes that would hinder the industry from growing. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, there is the issue of the NHIF. It is very dear to me because apart from it supporting the old and the vulnerable in the society, it also supports all the workers of this country. Again, it has been disadvantaged because it never had any tax relief unlike all the other insurance providers. This is why even today teachers sometimes ask us why they cannot be put under the NHIF. The disadvantage that the NHIF was facing was that it was not enjoying tax reliefs, which other insurance companies enjoyed. They can easily compete against it when it comes to winning and getting opportunities to insure the masses of workers of this country. This is a very good proposal which I support 100 per cent. Let the NHIF also enjoy the tax relief that all other insurance companies enjoy. The other issue that I would like to talk about is the issue of post-retirement medical cover for the workers of this country. The truth is that this particular proposal is very good for all the workers of Kenya. Once most of the workers leave employment, they lose everything and there is delay in the time they can receive their pension, but what hits them the most is medical cover. How many times will you be told that we do not have medicine for an old person who retired? He will retire and does not have medicine yet he has not received his pension from the National Treasury. He is not earning anything else from the Government or whatever employer he had. Therefore, this is a very good proposal, but we shall have to look at the regulations that will come with this proposal on the creation of a post-retirement medical cover because we want to know how it will be paid. Is it paid during the time when the worker is still in employment or later? We have to craft very good regulations, so that it does not hurt the workers. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, there is the issue which was generally spoken about by the SRC, although we are still pursuing it as a trade union movement, of freezing all collective bargaining agreements (CBAs). We agreed that we have COVID-19, but could we look at a possible way to support workers through certain reprieves like we had during the COVID-19? I 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."
}