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"id": 224936,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/224936/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kimunya",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Finance",
"speaker": {
"id": 174,
"legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
"slug": "amos-kimunya"
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"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have just explained, in very basic layman's language, what the process is. The taxpayers are the Kenyans themselves; they pay taxes to the Government. What the Government is saying is that, you have a choice! The KPLC can charge an extra 60 cents per kilowatt hour for every person who uses April 24, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 875 electricity power. But, as a Government, you have paid us a tax, and we will insulate you from this until a power purchase agreement is in place based on the power tariff study. So, it is an interim measure we are undertaking as a Government. We are not subsidizing the KPLC or KenGen; we are basically saying: \"KPLC, do not pass this tax or extra charge on to the consumers until we have the comprehensive power tariff study completed and we know what should be borne by the consumer, what should be borne by the distributor and what should be charged by the generator.\" That is a very straight forward thing and, I believe, as a responsible Government, we have done what we need to do for our taxpayers by saying that, we will pay it on your behalf. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other thing I just wanted to mention and which the Minister for Energy alluded to, is that this energy generation and exploration by the Geothermal Development Company is a decision that we took and it is consistent with the Energy Bill that was passed by this House where we are saying: \"Let us separate the issue of energy generation from that of exploration.\" KenGen is now a public and private company and we cannot continue putting in public resources into it in terms of exploration, therefore, we are separating those two functions. That should ensure that KenGen and the KPLC do their core business and, as a public, we have a vehicle to carry out the risky business of energy exploration. After that, tariff can be passed on to the generator. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other thing I just want to mention is something that hon. ole Metito mentioned. The issue of all these projects we are doing with the CDF, be it health centres, dispensaries or primary schools; it is very good to have these facilities out there because the people need them. But unless we synchronise them with the plans by the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Health in terms of staffing and equipping, well, we could actually be faced with that real threat of them turning into \"white elephants\", because we are not quite marrying the Government planning with our own planning as the CDF at the local level. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also just want to mention the issue of the councillors' pay. I think it was raised here and over the issue of taxation on this pay. This is an issue we are discussing within the framework of the Association of Local Government Authorities of Kenya (ALGAK) and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and we will be reporting progress on that issue in due course. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also just want to mention the issue of equity in the distribution of resources and confirm that, never before have resources of this country been so equitably distributed. Let us look at it on a bigger time span than on an annual basis, because a road will be done in one district in one year and on the second year, it will be done in another district. It is not because district \"A\" has been denied resources, which have been given to district \"B\", but when you look at the project on a Kenyan map, you will find that there is development going on across the entire country. The Opposition Chief Whip raised a very important issue in terms of what the Cabinet office intends to spend an extra Kshs270 million on. I would like to confirm to him that out of this amount, Kshs252 million is related to a claim that we are making in terms of determining our 200 nautical miles of the continental shelf. This is work that was done by a Kenyan and we can actually claim an extra 200 nautical miles as part of our zone in the sea. This requires specialised equipment for under sea exploration. That is why we are spending that money because the work is being co- ordinated through the Cabinet Office. There are a number of other issues that have been mentioned. Some are very clear and straightforward. With regard to increases and allocations in Embu District, it is a very rare case where the contractor has moved ahead of time and requires extra funding. The money is being fast- tracked to pay him by re-allocation from other projects that have not started. We hope that in the long-term, we will have covered the entire road network in this country as we put more money into 876 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 24, 2007 infrastructure. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I believe many more issues have been raised. In particular, I liked the suggestion by hon. Gumo about the roads in Nairobi. I would like to assure him that as of tomorrow, we will be launching the construction of the road from the airport to Gigiri. That will ease congestion on Uhuru Highway and other roads. The Ministry of Roads and Public Works gave a blueprint of all the roads that are being done. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue is in terms of tax revenue and the commission payable to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). This House approved that we will be paying up to 2 per cent. It is not fixed. It will be relative to the collection, so we could pay 0.5 per cent in the first year or 1 per cent as the revenue increases. As a House, we should all support the initiatives that we are undertaking to collect taxes. Last year, if you will recall, we reversed some of the tax measures we had implemented and we lost close to Kshs700 million, which could now have come to finance the development that we need. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if we can work together, and I believe we will, Kenyans are willing to pay taxes if they can see where the money is going--- As a House, it is our responsibility to identify that and hold us to account in terms of ensuring that, that money has been put into use as it should. Prof. Anyang'-Nyong'o mentioned about the debts. I agree we should not be paying as much debt as we are paying. It is historical. On a net basis, we owe about US$10 billion. We have to service the debt. I can assure this House that all the debts that have been incurred during President Kibaki's administration, we know where the money has gone, what it is doing and we are very cautious in terms of our review of all the previous debts. There is a quarterly report that is being published by the Debt Management Department, which is a public document, that I would encourage hon. Members to look at. If it is not coming to Parliament, we can make arrangements to make sure that hon. Members see where we are on our public debt at any one time and what our commitments are, so that we can all be very clear in terms of what we owe and what our children will have to pay when all those debts come to question. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, those are some of the key issues that arose. I thank the hon. Members for their support and the interest they have shown today. I look forward to the same support when we Table the Appropriations Bill in the next couple of days, once you have given us the authority to move forward. With those few remarks, I wish to thank the hon. Members and I beg to move."
}