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{
    "id": 1398248,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1398248/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 611,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Chairman. It is, indeed, true that we are zero-rating; moving it from exempt. I said this is for the particular reason of trying to revitalise our local sugar industry. They will now be able to claim their input Value Added Tax (VAT) and therefore be at an advantage over those other manufacturers from outside our country. It is true that we essentially will be supporting those of our neighbours if we do not support our local sugar industry. You have in the recent past and in the last few years seen what has happened in this country. We were importing sugar, let alone denatured ethanol. This denatured ethanol is a by-product of the sugar milling industry. We would, therefore, be encouraging those in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region to produce ethanol from their molasses in sugar milling factories rather than bring denatured ethanol into the country, hence disadvantaging our local manufacturers. You could lose the VAT element of the denatured ethanol but gain much more in Income Tax, the Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and the jobs you secure for our farmers and those working in our sugar industries. I believe those who come from Western Kenya and the sugar belt area like Hon. (Prof) Oundo will bear witness that the death of the sugar industry in this country dealt a heavy economic blow to the people of Western Kenya and other regions like Kwale County in the Coast. People there largely depended on these sugar-milling factories. Whatever it takes to revitalise this sugar industry is, indeed, the Government’s policy. It is about supporting not just our farmers but also our economy."
}