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{
    "id": 1511363,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1511363/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 439,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) Ojiambo Oundo",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "The Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill is what it is. It cannot be anything else. What quacks like a duck, is a duck. What swings like a duck, is a duck. What swims like a duck, is a duck. Even if you want to call it a pigeon or a goose, it is a duck. This Bill contains revenue raising measures. It cannot be anything else but an abridged or a different version of a Finance Bill. We appreciate that the Finance Bill, 2024, that was rejected by the assenting authority in June, contained very good proposals that had to die a natural death because as we always say, if one egg is rotten, the entire basket of eggs is rotten. As we stand here today, I wanted to be very hard but given the fact that my young friend went through a lot in June, I do not want to cause him more stress than what he went through. I am an elder and you must always sympathise and protect young leaders and young people so that they do not have to suffer. I also know my friend, Hon. Makilap was worried because I had promised that I would unleash arsenals to make sure that he suffers. We also need to be very clear and categorical. The Bill that is published is this Bill. What the Chairman did was to try and talk to the political gallery to try and assuage Kenyans that what was published here is not what is going to be moved. Presuming that what is going to be moved in the Committee of the whole House is going to be accepted, that is being preposterous. We are just anticipating debate that will not be there. All that we need to do as Members of Parliament is to look at this Bill and as we contribute, make reasonable proposals that can be carried forward. That is why I have always said that the period taken from Second Reading to the Committee of the whole House should be adequate enough for Members to prepare amendments and for the committee to have an opportunity to look at The Hansard and see what members talked about and the issues they raised. It is true that they conducted public participation, but they did not reach every single Kenyan. The Member of Parliament who stands here to speak represents, more or less, the views of his constituents in whichever form or is acting on delegated responsibility, so to speak As I mentioned, it contains very progressive proposals that are going to improve the pockets of Kenyans. I am extremely happy because of what Hon. (Dr) Makali Mulu moved concerning the contributions of post-retirement medical scheme. If I had time, I would wish that instead of a limit of Ksh15,000, we should have first done an actuarial study to ascertain how much we need to contribute every month in order to have a reasonable medical cover. This is considering that in post-retirement, you are exposed more to life related diseases than when you are young. When you are young, you do not suffer from many diseases just like some Members here are. Time will tell. When you get there, you will know. If we could increase this figure to probably Ksh30, 000 based on some scientific research or actuarial studies to ascertain how much we need, I believe that Ksh15,000 is low."
}