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{
    "id": 1498166,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498166/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 326,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "The same Article goes further to define the role of our county governments in terms of the kind of taxes they may impose such as property taxes, entertainment taxes and other taxes that may be authorised to be imposed by county governments through an Act of Parliament. Those taxes as imposed by the county governments must be done in a way that they do not jeopardise the national interests of a country. If you read Article 209(5) of our Constitution, it states that it is very important to safeguard taxation that is imposed by both levels of the government and answers a number of questions in relation to the position of taxes. Some of the questions that Article 205(9) answers are: 1. Could there be instances where there might be a clash or disruption in the imposition of taxes between the two levels of the government? 2. How do we secure our national interests so that a county does not jeopardise the entire country’s greater interest in an attempt to impose tax at the county level? 3. The same article answers the question on how we can secure the movement of goods, services, capital and labour within and across the counties within the sphere of the national space for trade, without inhibiting international protocols and agreements that are intended to ease regional trade. This afternoon, Hon. Temporary Speaker, we were discussing the issue of enhancing, deepening and tightening our regional integration. Part of the work in deepening and tightening our regional integration issues is around trade. It is possible for the County Government of Kajiado which neighbours our neighbouring country, Tanzania, or the County Government of Busia, to impose certain taxes that may either inhibit movement of goods and services from a neighbouring country within our regional trading block or even trade. For instance, the City of Nairobi may impose taxes that inhibit movement of goods, labour and services between a county like Mombasa and a county as productive as the County of Nandi. The farmers in Nandi grow tea both in small and large scale, but they cannot consume all the tea. They have to transport the tea through the counties of Nakuru, Uasin Gishu, Kiambu, Machakos, Makueni and Taita Taveta before it gets to Mombasa for shipment for them to get value of their tea. All those county governments in between may impose certain taxes that may inhibit not just the movements of those goods and services, but also international regional trade. This Bill therefore, seeks to cure such happenings. If you read Article 205(9) which I have referenced, it says; ‘‘The taxation and other revenue-raising powers of a county shall not be exercised in a way that prejudices national economic policies, economic activities across county boundaries or the national mobility of goods, services, capital or labour.’’ The word I would want to emphasise is ‘‘shall not.’’ Meaning, it is mandatory."
}