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"id": 229354,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Waithaka",
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"legal_name": "Mwangi Kirika Waithaka",
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"content": "I am just thanking him for doing his job well. But what I am saying is that it is important that the Opposition has appreciated what has actually been done and they are saying that some work has been done and it is important. We must all live as if we live in this world or country, because we were here during the last regime. We know what was happening, our children used to go without schools but now every primary school-going child is actually accessing free primary education. 152 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 27, 2007 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there must be some teething problems, which we must appreciate. What I am saying is that we want it perfected. We cannot deny the fact that when free primary education was introduced, there was more enrolment than usual and, therefore, there was shortage of teachers in certain areas. However, even as His Excellency the President said in his Address to this House, the Government is addressing itself to this issue by employing more teachers to cater for areas with shortages. As we all know, it is the business of the Government to collect taxes, and use them to provide services to its citizens. One of the criticisms that have been levelled against governments all over the world is the manner in which tax money is used. It is asked whether money collected is utilised to the satisfaction of the citizens who pay taxes. Taxation should be uniform, and not discriminative. In this respect, I have an issue to raise with the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Local Government. We have received a lot of complaints from councillors to the effect that in certain local authorities, councillors' salaries are deducted Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE), but in others it is not deducted. We would want this anomaly rectified. Taxation should cover all local authorities, and not only some of them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will give the example of Nyandarua County Council, where councillors' salaries are being deducted PAYE. However, councillors' salaries in Naivasha and Ol Kalou County Councils are not being deducted PAYE. Councillors at Nyandarua County Council wonder whether the taxation law applies only to them, and not to councillors in other local authorities. This is an anomaly that needs to be rectified, so that we do not have people raising issues that are not necessary. If it is actually the law that councillors should pay PAYE, that law should apply to all councillors. If that is not the law, the Government should not make deductions from salaries of councillors of certain local authorities and leave out others. I will leave that point at that. In his Address, His Excellency the President emphasised the need for dialogue, because hon. Members from both the Opposition and the Government sides represent Kenyans, and we are all in Kenya. The issue of who are in the Opposition and in the Government today, and who will be in the Opposition and in the Government tomorrow, does not matter. This is a situation which keeps changing. In the last Parliament, we, on the Government side now, were arguing from the other side of the House as the Opposition. If the hon. Members in the Opposition were in the Government, they would argue differently. So, it all depends on which side of the House you are arguing from. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, dialogue is a two-way traffic. In dialogue, you must be prepared to give and take. You cannot have a fixed position and ask for dialogue. If you do so, you will be joking and confirming that you do not know the meaning of the world \"dialogue\". The word \"dialogue\" means \"give and take\". Two parties engaging in dialogue walk two steps forward each, so that they can meet in the middle. If you say: \"We are going to dialogue, but I am not going to accept this or that\", you will be fooling others because, that cannot be said to be dialogue. Since we are going to engage in dialogue in respect of the minimum constitutional review process, people should desist from giving conditions to be fulfilled even before we start the process. In one of his books, a Nigerian writer called Chinua Achebe, said that when you are called to a meeting, you should, first, attend and listen to what you will be told before you raise any objections. When people reject something they have not even heard about or known, you just wonder what is happening with them. So, let us engage in dialogue in the interests of one nation called Kenya. We are all Kenyans regardless of whether one is in the Government or the Opposition. That is what we are going to do and we must be prepared to give and take. You cannot always be waiting to take and not give. So, that is what I want to emphasise. March 27, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 153"
}