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{
    "id": 1092215,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1092215/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 260,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kathiani, WDM-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Robert Mbui",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1750,
        "legal_name": "Robert Mbui",
        "slug": "robert-mbui"
    },
    "content": "has defaulted for a month. If the debt that is sought is on the 9th of next month and you make the payment on the 10th which is one day later, you are expected to pay 500 times more. I think the penalty has to be thought through. I have seen in this same Bill that they have put two figures, one has 50 per cent and another has 25 per cent, but the Committee Chairperson talked about 5 per cent. So, I do not know which one is the exact amount but, it should be a low figure graduated in terms of how long one is holding that money. Probably 5 per cent per month will make sense so that if it is just one day, you pay 5 per cent. But if you stay another 30 days, then you will be hit with another penalty of 5 per cent. So, we need to be careful so that we do not make it too difficult. There are times when employers are unable to pay salaries because of those punitive penalties. They end up paying tax and not workers. So, you find workers are employed, the NHIF, NSSF and all those other remittances have been made, but the workers have not been paid. So, we have to be careful not to hit them with huge penalties. The target should be to pay the workers first and if there is any other deduction, then they can go to the State corporations later. I would want to propose that, as we consider this amendment, let us also look at the possibility of covering people when it comes to issues to do with pandemics. As we speak, COVID- 19 is a pandemic that has hit this nation and even people who have been insured cannot access the insurance because they are saying it is a pandemic. So, we need to look at the possibility of ensuring that every single situation that is health-based is covered. Otherwise, the issue of health insurance loses meaning because we insure ourselves against the unknown. A pandemic is unknown and unexpected. So, it is important that they cover even pandemics."
}