Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 1346463,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1346463/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 355,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tigania West, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) John K. Mutunga",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Incidental tax changes cause a lot of discontent among citizens. It can also erroneously dissuade investment. I want to be very clear on this. Whenever we have a budget that we are trying to fund, we look at the various ways in which we can get money. A Government can get money in a variety of ways. One of them is international trade. The other one is the changes in the currency, for instance, the evaluation and devaluation of a currency. There are many other ways. The key among them is taxation. This country has majored a lot on taxation as a source of income. My friends in the opposition use the taxation measure to basically fight the Government unfairly. If you listen to them talking sometimes, they say that Kenya is the most taxed country in the world. They speak without empirical evidence. We cannot have it, unless we refer to some materials. There is no material they can refer to. These are statements made by individuals based on their understanding of a situation that is not documented. Having a Sessional Paper or policy document that prescribes the tax regime over time is key to enabling us make references and not to allow polarisation of the citizenry by telling them that they are the most taxed country in the world. I do not think there is any evidence to back up such statements. There is need for the prospective investors to know that there will be a spirit of fairness in handling their businesses over time because they will invest for 10, 15 or 20 years. They need to know that there is a stable base upon which they will be required to make payments to our Government for the services and even for the business operating environment. That is why taxation policy is important. 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"
}