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{
    "id": 1105690,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1105690/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 372,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kipipiri, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Amos Kimunya",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 174,
        "legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
        "slug": "amos-kimunya"
    },
    "content": "The Bill also seeks to amend the current Section 7 of the Act, in relation to the secretary of the tribunal, by replacing the CS who is the appointing authority and transferring that responsibility to the Public Service Commission (PSC). I know there are some issues with this because this is a tribunal under the JSC. The thinking was that the Public Service Commission (PSC) should be the one appointing the Authority. I am aware that the Chair of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning and her Committee have heard representations from various bodies and there could well be some amendments to that in terms of how the secretary is appointed and the qualifications of the secretary. However, more importantly, at least, it is moving from the Cabinet Secretary of the Treasury to another appointing authority. It also increases the number of years in terms of the experience of the secretary to be appointed secretary to the Board. In the event that you have been a member of the Kenya Revenue Authority, you are barred from being appointed secretary to the tribunal until the lapse of at least 5 years, which is basically about the same thing we have for people who have been in politics. You cannot be appointed to the IEBC because, how do you go and arbitrate when history is so fresh with your first employer? It is just to protect that independence in terms of the operations. The Bill is very elaborate in the duties of the secretary in terms of the day-to-day operations. It is also delinking the work of the secretary from the work of the chairperson. So, you do not have members and the secretary fighting between executive matters and policy matters. I did not mention that the thinking in terms of coming up with the Bill was like because there are so many cases, why do we not have all the tribunal members being full time? That is what the current proposal is in the Bill. However, as people have been discussing this Bill, I have also had representations, since the publication of this Bill, from people who are professionals serving other public duties in other tribunals and not just in tax. That is because once you do this, it sets precedence for all the others not just in the tax tribunal. There are people who are serving on a part-time basis because they can only afford to give part of their time. Because of their specific expertise in terms of the taxation practise, the land estate management or knowledge in the co- operative movement, people are called to serve in related tribunals. However, especially in tax, we have so many people who are tax practitioners who may be required to serve in this, but they will not relinquish their responsibilities as partners in their accounting practices or as senior managers in their accounting practices to serve on a full time 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."
}