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{
    "id": 1441798,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1441798/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 544,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Aldai, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Marianne Kitany",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "One thing that we can now see in the country is that the conversation has changed to become politics of a Finance Bill. My grandmother in the village, the Generation Z that we saw yesterday and everybody else, including us, are talking about the Finance Bill. This is a step in the right direction. Why do I support the Finance Bill? One, is the introduction of Eco Levy. Around 2016, the ban on polythene was imposed in our country and, at that time, there was a lot of hue and cry on how packaging and the cost of living will become expensive. However, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) stood its ground and effected the ban on polythene bags. Today, our country is one of the cleanest because we do not have polythene papers. There are imported finished products that have polythene. Introducing the eco tax will help us in managing that waste, which we have already removed from our raw materials all the way to local manufacturers. We should not introduce any polythene. Over and above the eco tax, the proposal is going to create employment. The tax is on imported finished products. Therefore, this will encourage local manufacturing. We will create employment for the youth who currently do not have employment, as most manufacturers would prefer to do local manufacturing and not pay eco tax as opposed to importing finished products that will attract the tax. The trend on either products or raw materials that are currently exported for value addition outside the country will be reversed. Those raw materials will be added value. Farmers and all those who produce the raw materials will not only create direct employment but also direct income, and therefore increasing the tax base. Not to mention, of course, the environment. We will have improved the environment and we will have extra revenue to deal with wastages that come from finished, imported products that already have eco-friendly packaging. I also support this Bill because of the edible oil tax. About three weeks ago, we met manufacturers of edible oil. They told us that if the taxes were going to be imposed on crude oil that they import to manufacture edible oil, then the cost of living would have gone up as the cost of edible oil would have gone up. I am happy that the proposed amendment will totally remove all the taxes that were going to be imposed on edible oil. That encourages employment and, of course, we have both direct and indirect employment in the edible oil industry. The only thing I want to encourage is that those manufacturers need to look local by ensuring that farmers who currently grow sunflower and canola are also considered. We should not just export labour or revenue to countries that produce edible oil and yet, we can grow it in our country. The other issue that this Finance Bill is taking care of is that, it is correcting some of the ills that have happened in previous Finance Acts. One of them being on the cost of money. For example, tax on per diems has now been increased from Ksh2,000 to 5 per cent of the gross. That means that an employee will have more disposable income. Contributions to NHIF and the housing levy have now been put as tax deductible. This, therefore, will reduce PAYE for salaried employees. That will allow salaried employees to have more disposable income, which is a correction from the previous Finance Acts. If we say that the Finance Bill be rejected, then some of these ills that are being corrected in this Bill will not be corrected. With that, Hon. Speaker, I support the Finance Bill. Thank you."
}