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{
    "id": 1553531,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1553531/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 109,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "revenue. That is why it is a statement on revenue-raising measures that the Cabinet Secretary comes to read at the beginning of June. This is just to implore Kenyans that one, not to believe the lies and; two, to fact-check. Last year, 2024, Kenyans were fed with all manner of disinformation and falsehoods on what was contained in the Finance Bill. A week or two before the consideration of that Bill in this House, none other than the Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning informed the country of all the retinue of amendments that were being proposed to deal with the few offensive clauses that were in the Finance Bill. Kenyans considered things like taxation on bread offensive. You remember the taxation of motor vehicles. All those things were removed but Kenyans ended up saying: “Reject! Do not amend!” Hon. Speaker, we have no business having a Parliament in this country if this House is told to reject every law and not to amend it. The legislative process begins with legislative proposals, which are then amended as informed by Kenyans during public participation. I do not need to belabour what happened last year. We need not go back to that pain. But we must inform Kenyans that we are in an era of disinformation and misinformation, especially on social media. Unfortunately, many members of the Fourth Estate pick up and report what is being said on social media, which are lies, as if it is the truth. The Fourth Estate has a greater responsibility, more than anybody else, to inform Kenyans truthfully. What we say on this Floor is on record. If we lie, even 100 years from today, Kenyans will know whether Hon. Junet or I lied. When Hon. Junet says there is no Finance Bill, there is none as we speak. When a Finance Bill is proposed and brought before the House, it will not be a secret. It will be published. I thank the Office of the Clerk for a job well done during the consideration of the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill last year. After the fall of the Finance Bill, we passed two Business Laws (Amendment) Bills, 2024, the Tax Procedures (Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024. Before we considered the Bills, we allowed the National Treasury to first inform Kenyans of what they intended to do and get their views. We then conducted elaborate public participation through the leadership of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, under the leadership of the Chairman, Hon. Kimani Kuria. Eventually, we passed those laws on 4th December 2024 without any incidents. I have said before that those four pieces of legislation were 70 per cent what was contained in the Finance Bill, 2024 and yet, they were passed without any incidents. Therefore, if the Finance Bill, 2024 was as offensive as said by those who propagated the disinformation campaign, then the four laws would be hurting Kenyans today. They are not."
}