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{
    "id": 1269197,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1269197/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 257,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "card. You will find them idling or taking tea in our lounges. That is not what you are sent to do in Parliament. Anyway, I do not intend to be long on that, but I commend what our dear sister is doing. Mr. Temporary Speaker, this is a well-thought-out Bill. I have been to many business forums. We have seen quite a number here at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) and in our counties, on the challenges that businesses continue to face in this country, especially those that are in the Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) space. They do business that is not elaborate across the counties and they do not have the muscle to avoid being boxed or challenged by county governments. Sen. M. Kajwang, you perhaps know this better; that it is the smaller businesses that face the wrath of many of our county administrations, especially when they try to expand into the next town. You find that a young entrepreneur sets up in Homa Bay and within a short time, they want to expand to Nyamira and Kericho, which are the next neighbourhood counties. The kind of challenges and bottlenecks that they go through is what has inspired this legislation. If you read through the objects of this Bill, it intends to give a uniform platform for licensing various activities by counties. This is informed, of course, by the Second Schedule of our Constitution on the various functions of our county Governments and the powers that they have to determine what licenses they can give and at what rate. Therefore, the fact that we have thought as a House and want to propose through this piece of legislation to have one standard that applies across all the 47 counties, is quite encouraging. This is what I was speaking about a few minutes ago when I was reacting to the reports that were being given to us by the Chairpersons of the Committees. Parliament must learn to be alive by reacting to the specific, accurate and timely needs that are before the people of Kenya. That is the reason for our existence as a House. On many occasions that we have gone, I am sure we have not had one this session or maybe if it happened, then I missed out on it. Sen. M. Kajwang would know that on many occasions, we have had the chance to interact with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA). When they invite us, their key cry to us as a legislative body is continuous licenses that are not uniform, not just in terms of procedure, but sometimes even in terms of price. I have often cited the example of outdoor advertising, which is controlled by county governments. You find that if you are an agency that has set up and you are now growing, you are in 14 counties, as you quote for your client, they may think that you are misleading them. You tell them the county license fee in county one will be Kshs2,500. However, by the time you get to County No.14, the price is different. We pass a lot of these challenges to people that run businesses. Therefore, this Bill will provide the opportunity and the platform for us to even the playing field so that our county governments can be entities that facilitate business and not barriers and a hindrance to them. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard Services,Senate."
}