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{
    "id": 1171827,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1171827/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 1406,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kilifi North, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13373,
        "legal_name": "Owen Yaa Baya",
        "slug": "owen-yaa-baya"
    },
    "content": "authority to service. That policy shift is very important. Douglas Mcgregor, the guy who developed Theory X and Y of management, said there is a way in which you manage people and you achieve certain results using the theory of management—whether you coerce, push, punish or cajole them until you get the results from a negative perspective. There is the Y part that says you can talk to the people well, motivate them and receive or achieve better results. That is what Douglas Mcgregor says. What we have seen of the current KRA is that they are very punitive. They are always pushing people. They want to achieve results by force. What that has done is that a negative has been their result. People are shunning away from paying taxes. People are closing businesses. People are evading tax because this is a rogue guy following up money you have made yourself. Change of name alone will not make KRA a better institution. They need to change the theory of management and mindset on how they manage the institution. There is a correlation between the huge public debts we are incurring and the way KRA is being managed. If KRA does not collect enough resources, it means we have to borrow more to bridge the gap. If KRA is not managed properly to collect taxes very well and ensure we have enough money, the reverse is the result. Because we have a gap in revenue, this country will continue to borrow externally and internally to bridge that gap if KRS as we want to name it today does not collect that money. In a nutshell, KRA needs to change not only the name but also operations. I will give you a very interesting incident. I have very many and nice beach hotels in my constituency but the investor who has invested a lot of his money tells you I will close down and take away my investment to another place because KRA is not giving me breathing space. Several hotels have been closed down. What happens are two things. If they close down, one, the Government loses on the revenue that could have emanated from the proprietor. What also happens is that every staff who was working there, 2000 staff who were working in that organisation, also lose their salaries and, therefore, this Government does not get the taxes these employees would have paid. Therefore, KRA has a double loss—they lose excise duty and other taxes, but also lose income tax from the people who were working in the institutions. That is the sad story. I am saying that there is a correlation between debt rise in this country and the performance of KRA. If we are giving them change, a new name, a new brand, and a new lease of life, we also would like to see them work better in ensuring that they have a good relationship with business people and companies. That good relationship can shore up the revenue they are trying to collect. I will give you an incident of one of my friends who is an investor in Watamu. He has been a very faithful tax payer, for many years. One day, the records were not done properly. This guy arrives at the airport from Italy and when he is in Mombasa, there are people and askaris from KRA waiting for him. They arrested him, for the first time, and told him “you are a tax evader and you know you have not paid taxes for this much.” They put handcuffs on him and took him to court. When they checked the records, the problem was not that he did not pay taxes. It was that filing had not been done on time. This guy promised me: “Owen, I am closing down. I am selling and moving out of this country.” That is exactly what he did. What I would like to say, as we move forward to changing the name and make KRA the KRS, let them also change the management of how they do their jobs so that we can collect enough taxes. If they collect enough taxes, we will reduce public debt. Like Kibaki said, we want to be self-reliant. I think we used to have the slogan “Kulipa Ushuru ni Kujitegemea”. Let Kenyans get the spirit that they are paying taxes ili waendelee kujitegemea. I thank you and support. 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."
}