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"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
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"legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I do not use moisturisers. Protect me from Sen. Crystal Asige. I am a Bukusu man and our skin takes care of itself. They use industrial sugar in the manufacture of dairy products such as yoghurt. The problem is that if you put that levy on industrial sugar, we are going to see an increase in these consumer prices. I forgot to mention that it is also used in the manufacture of beer. We need to look very closely at that because in this country, we do not have the capacity to manufacture this industrial sugar. The manufacturers are telling us for as long as we do not have that capacity to manufacture white industrial sugar, imposing that levy at four per cent, similar to the regular sugar, is going to inconvenience many of these manufacturers because of the constraints of supply. If we do not have the capacity to produce, then we should not be levying that four per cent sugar development levy until we have the capacity to produce locally. When I spoke to Hon. Wangwe, he told me one of the key concerns was that people want to import sugar under the guise of it being white industrial sugar, and it has happened before. Then, sooner or later, you find it in in the markets being used for purposes other than as a sweetener or as a preservative. I have tried to persuade him that it is possible for us to deal with the few bad eggs and not necessarily castigate the entire manufacturing industry. I will give you the example of beer because this is something I understand very well. It is a record in this House, that in Nairobi they call me the Minister of Celebrations. If this levy is passed, we are looking at an average increase of between Kshs6 and 15 on the average retail price of a bottle of beer. This is very critical coming at a time when the Government is involved with a very serious war of consumption of illicit alcohol. During a recent seminar that was organised by the Alcoholic Beverages Association of Kenya, it was revealed that 59 per cent of Kenyans consume illicit alcohol. I am telling you the truth. I have that report. I do not know why Sen. Cherarkey is expressing shock. Out of the Kshs180 recommended retail price of a bottle of, say, Tusker Lite, Kshs110 goes to taxes. If you increase that further by Kshs6 or 15, it pushes it out of the reach of many Kenyans. This is something that is going to affect our war on illicit alcohol. It is also projected that if we are to impose that four per cent development levy on imported industrial sugar, a 300-millilitre mug of the cheapest beer, which is named after this House, Senator Keg Lager, is going to increase by at least Kshs2. This is also going to impact the war on illicit alcohol. This House should consider that there is a value supply chain in the manufacture of some of these products that I am talking about. For instance, there are farmers who have been contracted recently to supply raw materials for the manufacture of beer. There 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 and AudioServices, Senate."
}