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{
    "id": 1252796,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1252796/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 204,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ugunja, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Opiyo Wandayi",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " As usual, I will ignore Hon. Osoro. Hon. Speaker, going through this Bill, you will see an attempt to not only ridicule the hustlers or poor Kenyans but to kill them. Why do I say so? We all know that this country solely relies on fuel and petroleum products. Every facet of the economy is driven by fuel and petroleum products. Therefore, the moment you set to increase VAT on fuel and petroleum products from 8 to 16 per cent, it essentially means the cost of living will skyrocket automatically. Everything will be costlier. Then, you go ahead and remove tax on aircraft, choppers and their spare parts. These are equipment only bought or accessed by the who is who or very rich in this country. On the one hand you overburden the poor person and on the other hand you lessen the burden on the rich person. What logic is this? I expected having heard the regime lament they found empty coffers… Any first-year economics student will tell you that the logical step the regime would have taken was to rationalise the budget and cut off unnecessary areas. But what do we see? The budget has now increased by about Ksh8 billion, over and above last year’s budget. The increment is driven by consumption. Looking at the amount of money allocated to the Office of the President, Deputy President and Prime Cabinet Secretary, monies are going to service consumption like host banquets, buy flowers and tea. This is a perfect case of a regime living in a different universe and not on earth. We can go on and on. Take the case of the housing levy. Up to now, the Government including my good friend Kuria Kimani, have refused to define what this animal is. We do not know whether it is a levy, tax, fine or penalty. Nobody knows and then they are telling us that they have reduced it from 3 per cent to 1.5 per cent. They have even worsened the situation because the Ksh2,500 cap which was initially there has been removed. They have now targeted those earning bigger salaries to pay more. They have now taxed the lower-middle- and upper- class people. Hon. Speaker, let me tell you that in the village where I come from, there are public servants and other employees who have toiled for years. Some of them have about five years to retire. They have their own houses which they have built through different schemes. You want to tell them to part with 1.5 per cent of their pay to deposit in a scheme which nobody knows its intention. If you do basic calculation, the 1.5 per cent of an ordinary primary school 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."
}