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"id": 191950,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Kioni",
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"legal_name": "Jeremiah Ngayu Kioni",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Chairman, Sir, I want to say a few things on the tax proposals that have been laid before us by the Minister for Finance. First, I would like to applaud the Ministry for the many good ideas that have been put before this Committee. I note that there is a proposal to zero-rate tax on air travel. That is very important because, in so doing, we will make Kenya Airways competitive. It will be able to compete in the arena with others. A proposal has been made to zero-rate motorcycles rating up to 250cc. It is important because in many centres in the country side, they are becoming the mode of choice in terms of transport. Many of our people in the rural areas are buying those motor cycles. They are easing transport difficulties in some of our areas. But I would like to suggest that, over and above zero-rating duty on motorcycles up to 250 cc, there is also another group of youthful young Kenyans who are also offering that kind of transport using bicycles commonly known as boda boda . If we can remove taxes on motors that are used by boda bodas, we would be assisting many of the young people within our country side. We will also be making it possible for them to offer that mode of transport without wearing away their bodies. They will be getting support from the motors. That will go a long way in getting many more Kenyans to benefit from the tax measures that have been proposed by the Minister for Finance. There is also the issue of boosting hotel occupancy by allowing hotels to import gymnasium equipment without paying taxes. The danger with that is: I do not know how the Minister intends to ensure that there is no syphoning of that equipment by the people outside the hotel industry. That is bound to become another line that many of our very industrious Kenyans are going to use to get that equipment without paying duty. They will be enjoying the rebate that was not meant for them. The other thing that I want to mention in these proposals is with regard to cement. The tax on cement has been reduced from 40 per cent to 25 per cent. That, certainly, is a way of generating growth in our construction industry. But I think we need to bear in mind that, in so doing, we have now put our cement producing or manufacturing firms into some competition. I hope that the Ministry paid attention to that, so that we do not expose them to unnecessary competition that could end up with loss of employment and, perhaps, closure of some of those firms that we are proud of. We would like to see them continuing with their expansion policies. So, it is important that as we look at it with a view to helping push the construction industry further, we also make sure that we do not kill our own industries that offer employment to many of our youthful people. Mr. Temporary Deputy Chairman, Sir, there is a proposal that tax on trucks to be used for garbage collection be removed totally. I support this proposal and suggest that other trucks which may not be collecting garbage, like the \"exhaust tankers\" found in many towns, be covered under the category of garbage collection. There is quite a number of people who are engaged in the business of exhausting septic tanks. By so doing, this will help generate a lot of employment for our people. I am sure that we will be doing a great job in cleaning our cities and towns. The issue of zero-rating tax on bread, rice and wheat has been mentioned. Without June 26, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1459 repeating myself, the danger is that the benefit of all these reductions of taxes on bread, rice and wheat seems to be going to those who are not meant to benefit from it. It is important that the Minister addresses himself as to how the common mwananchi will benefit from those tax measures. There is also the proposal that tenant purchase houses up to Kshs150,000 will benefit from tax relief. This is a good gesture. It is important that this figure be pushed upwards, because most of the annual repayments are way above the Kshs150,000 per annum. Mr. Temporary Deputy Chairman, Sir, crucially, while looking at these proposals, one will not fail to look at the other end as to how to distribute the revenue that has been generated. In this country, we have a system of taking back to Kenyans, monies collected by the Central Government, through the line Ministries, up to the district level. I hope that the Ministry of Finance recognises the fact that we could easily be institutionalising unfair distribution of resources in this country. All that one needs to do to make sure that one's region is allocated a little more resources than other regions is to ask for a district or a county council. We do not know what criteria is used to determine which district needs to be subdivide into two or three. Some areas have very large districts. That, certainly, means that they receive less revenue. Mr. Temporary Deputy Chairman, Sir, equally, there should be different criteria used to channel funds to certain areas. For instance, if your region falls within the arid and semi-arid areas, then you will get a little more resources from the central kitty. Some of the constituencies we represent also suffer from the same climatic conditions like others that are now covered, and which have been allocated specific Ministries. Again, if proper evaluation or appraisal is not done, we will be seeing very unfair distribution of resources in this country, which will be institutionalised by the same Government. So, it is important that even as we continue discussing these tax proposals, we also pay attention to the various methods or channels that are being used by the Government to benefit other Kenyans more from the same revenue. As it is now, we have that disparity. Mr. Temporary Deputy Chairman, Sir, the last thing I would like to mention is the issue of the constituencies. Some of the funds that will be collected using these tax proposals will get back to us through the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF). Our constituencies are in such different levels. We have constituencies which have populations of registered voters of up to 249,000, while others have registered voters populations of only 15,000. If we do not pay attention to these differences, we will sit in this House and be happy about the tax proposals, but at the same time, taxing people who do not end up benefiting, because we have not paid attention to the institutions or the channels that we use to get the money back to the people we have taxed. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}