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{
    "id": 1116880,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1116880/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 252,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1835,
        "legal_name": "Anthony Kimani Ichung'Wah",
        "slug": "anthony-kimani-ichungwah"
    },
    "content": "the Leader of the Minority Party has said, this does not mean we should not tax people, but we must be cognisant of the times we are living in. Many of our constituents are still bedevilled by the COVID-19 pandemic and so, it is only right that we further defer the taxes on LPG and fuel probably to the year 2023 and 2024. You will recall the time when VAT on fuel was being debated in this House, we were made to believe there was commercial exploration of oil by Tullow Oil in Turkana and eventually the cost of crude oil would go down in this country. I have seen people on social media asking sarcastically whether mafuta ya Turkana ilikuwa ya kujipaka . Kenyans are asking themselves heavy questions like, whether the oil in Turkana was some lotion. This is because we are yet to see its impact in terms of bringing down the cost of crude oil prices. More significantly, is to note that the cost of crude oil is not likely to go down. As the world economies reopen, the price of crude oil is only expected to rise. Therefore, the only respite we have for our people is to deal with the issues before us to do with taxation and levies. On the question of demurrage, if you read the Committee’s Report, it is shocking that people are paid demurrages ranging from US$25,000 to US$45,000 per hour courtesy of inefficiencies at the Kipevu Oil Terminal. I have seen the Committee being optimistic that by December the second oil terminal will be completed. However, again, these are costs that the Government should not pass on to Kenyans. The inefficiencies by Kenya Pipeline Corporation in Mombasa are occasioning huge demurrage charges – costs which are then being passed on to Kenyans. The Government should be able to absorb those demurrage costs so that they are not passed on to Kenyans through oil pricing. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, on the question of the Railway Development Levy, Hon. Abdulswamad has brought a petition on the question of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) on Kenyan businesspeople being forced to use SGR. I hope the Committee in charge will also be looking into these things. The question of Fuel Development Levy is also something the Committee needs to look into. My time is running out and the last thing is the question of profit margins for oil marketers. There is absolutely no reason why the Government should be controlling the level of profit margins and operational costs by oil marketers. This is a classic case of state capture. Maybe, the Committee should have gone to an extent of interrogating these things. After late Hon. Biwott left this world and left Kenol/Kobil, who are the current owners of Rubis? Who are the current owners of Vivo Energy or Shell and what is their role in Government today?"
}