Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1254493,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1254493/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 246,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suna East, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Junet Mohamed",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "whole House. Even the then Speaker, Hon. Justin Muturi, was to subject that matter to Article 114 of the Constitution, but he waived and asked for the amendment to come to the Floor of the House. In the end, an agreement was made here and we settled on 8 per cent and not 16 per cent. That 16 per cent is the poison chalice that is in this Finance Bill. Once we implement the 16 per cent in fuel levy, the price of everything else will go up. Let us not be blind to the reality. We need to be truthful to Kenyans. I hear that this proposal is from the IMF. Let us not care about that. This House must stand with the people of Kenya because we must make life bearable for them. That is why they elected us. I want to tell the Leader of the Majority Party that the housing levy that he has alluded to in the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Alliance Manifesto is completely different from what is in this Bill. Our housing levy was modeled alongside the Singapore one where we were supposed to collect money cheaply, affordably, and in a bearable manner from Kenyans. It is unlike this model of ours where we are being forced to contribute through the nose. I participated in the formulation of the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Alliance Manifesto which is completely different from this one. It is like day and night. Do not use the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Alliance Manifesto as an example. If we were allowed to donate that manifesto to you, then every Kenyan would be happy today and would support you. As Members of Parliament, let us be careful because Kenyans are looking up to this House. This Bill was prepared by the Executive, but this House has the final say on it. It is said that there is no taxation without representation. We are here to safeguard the interest of the public. When this House passes the Bill, the Executive will wash their hands on us. They will say that it is Parliament that passed the Bill and not them. I can assure you of that. Let us scrutinise this Bill properly and make sure that it passes in a manner that is for the wellbeing of the people of Kenya. We are discussing big things like housing, roads, flyovers and yet, Kenyans are discussing food, what to eat, how to cloth and how to take their children to school. Let us not speak to Kenyans like the famous French Queen Marie-Antoinette who told the people who were asking for food: “Let them eat cake.” Let us not go towards that direction. We should serve Kenyans with food so that they can go to school and to bed full. In conclusion, this Bill is now going to the Third Reading. As a House, we have the chance to rectify it. Whether you are in Kenya Kwanza or Azimio, let us not be pushed to a corner by the authors of the Bill. Let us come together and scrutinise this Bill clause by clause, remove the offensive and oppressive clauses, and pass the good clauses. We should not repeat the same mistakes, like we did with the other Bills."
}