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{
    "id": 1583340,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1583340/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 298,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Samburu West, KANU",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Naisula Lesuuda",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for this opportunity to contribute to this very important Bill by the Leader of the Majority Party, Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah, and moved by the able Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Finance, Hon. Kuria Kimani. As has been said by both the mover and the seconder, this is a very important Bill which seeks to protect consumers of virtual asset services. We are moving speedily in technology. Personally, I have been approached by very many young people, telling me to get into the cryptocurrency space. You do not have to meet them; they tell you virtually where to put money. I can imagine very many people have lost their money because we do not have proper regulations or laws that safeguard consumers. This Bill mandates that any entity offering virtual assets services in Kenya must be licensed by the relevant regulatory authority. Right now, people are just operating in an unaccountable manner. This Bill will ensure transparency and accountability in the industry. Designated regulatory bodies will be CBK, CMA and CA. They will license, supervise and enforce compliance with the law. In terms of compliance and doing what is right, we are the fourth country in Africa to develop a Bill to govern this space. Kenya is never left behind in putting in place necessary regulations. This Bill will also help us to deal with money laundering, terrorism financing and threats to financial stability. It also seeks to protect the consumer of virtual assets such as cryptocurrencies and crypto assets. This is the space many young people are getting into. You will rarely find a young person telling you they want to invest in a piece of land. They are not like the older generation who chase a piece of land or an apartment and wait for it to appreciate and later dispose. So, it is important for us legislators to put laws and regulations in place to safeguard those who are keen on these spaces. Those who will provide these services will need to maintain a registered office to operate legally in Kenya. As I mentioned, we are being approached by people in the streets, telling us to buy crypto. They will now be required to be registered and get a licence to establish and maintain a registered office within Kenya to ensure physical presence for regulatory and customer engagement purposes. In case you con somebody, it will be possible for the regulatory bodies to track you down. Each virtual assets service provider must appoint a CEO who meets the eligibility criteria set by the relevant regulatory authority, ensuring competent leadership. This will also ensure that we are not just dealing with people who do not have the know-how in these matters but someone qualified. The regulatory bodies will ensure that happens. There are some provisions that can be looked at later during the Committee of the whole House. We will see if amendments can be made. The licence and compliance costs are high. Young people who are keen on this will say they are being locked out of practice. The Bill requires all virtual assets service providers to undergo extensive licencing procedures, which may be costly and time consuming. Of course, it is good to have strict and stringent The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for informationpurposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}