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"id": 237256,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/237256/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Mwenje",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Co-operative Development and Marketing",
"speaker": {
"id": 257,
"legal_name": "David S. Kamau Mwenje",
"slug": "david-mwenje"
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Finance Bill for many years has become either a complicated or non-clarified issue because it goes on to say we amend section this and that, and November 1, 206 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3345 yet, what we are amending is not attached. Most of us, do not even know what it is that is being amended. What does the original law say? I know that the Minister will tell us that the whole set is here. However, I would have expected that for whichever areas they are amending, they should be able to attach the original statement that they are now amending. This is because hon. Members may not even have time to look at these things. One may argue that we have officers to help us. However, they have no access to law books. They need to go to the library, but they are not allowed into the Parliamentary library. So, it becomes very difficult for us to deal with amendments. That has been the case for very many years. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the one other problem I have noticed particularly in this city, is that businessmen pay the Nairobi City Council (NCC) to acquire licences. Also, they pay more money to the Government to acquire another licence. This is double taxation. In some cases, they even pay for three or four licences. When one starts a business and the NCC takes him to court because of lack of a licence, then later on, a Government inspector also comes and charges him for the same, it is very unfair. It is time the Minister came up and stated clearly what licences would be mandatory for what businesses, so that double taxation does not come in again. We have seen many business people suffering. Some do not even know what licences they are expected to obtain. For example, those involved in the hotel industry pay a lot of money to the NCC and Government. It is time we streamlined these licences, so that our people are encouraged to do business. I hope the Minister will address these problems. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the penal code affects criminal activities. It also stipulates the kind of fines those found guilty will pay. I feel the amendments to the penal code should not be included in the Finance Bill. I strongly believe that this House, because it passes laws for this country, should be given an opportunity to debate any amendments to the penal code. Sometimes, fines are increased without being approved by Parliament. I remember one time when people were fined up Kshs20,000 for petty traffic offences. As much as I agree that the Minister should have some powers to make some amendments, when it comes to the penal code, it should come before this House, so that we have an opportunity to debate issues. I hope this will be looked into, so that we do not just amend the penal code through the Finance Bill and then complain, later on. I have heard on several occasions, people involved in the matatu and transport industry complaining about the fines they are charged. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to take this opportunity to thank the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). They have done a commendable job. No matter what we say, the collection of taxes has risen from Kshs180 billion to Kshs312 billion. I want to thank the Minister for getting the KRA to work. I also want to thank him for sealing all the loopholes that existed in terms of tax collection. For example, the contractors would promise that they would pay tax upon receiving their cheques. But this was not the case. Today, we have new regulations where two cheques are issued. One pays the tax directly and the other pays the contractor. This has made a lot of difference. I want to encourage the Minister to continue looking for more ways of ensuring that payment of tax is not evaded. There are still many areas where tax is not paid. For example, there are so many people who are playing games in hotels and bars. It is time that they also got taxed, so that we can collect more money. The more we collect taxes, the more development we will be able to carry out. So, I want to thank the Government for the big change in tax collection. If our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) continues rising, in the next three years, this country will now become a donor country rather than a recipient of donations. I can see that in 2012, we would be looking for people to donate money to other countries. This is because we will be rich if we move on at the same speed as we are doing now. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to take this opportunity to thank the President for launching the 2030 Vision. Although I was still unwell, I went to Kenyatta 3346 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 1, 2006 International Conference Centre (KICC), where the President was launching the 2030 Vision. I believe this vision is attainable. I do not see the reason as to why it cannot be attained. If it will be implemented, we will all enjoy and rejoice in this country. The way this vision was presented to us by the professionals and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Planning and National Development was very good. I imagined that, by the time I would be 70 years old, this city would be so beautiful with fly-overs, no traffic jams and there will be enough houses for our people. It is for that reason that I agree with Mr. Muturi when he says that all the land that remains idle should be taxed. For example, in my constituency, one man owns over 2,000 acres of land. It is a pity that he is not even developing it. The other day, the Government renewed the lease for that land. I would have told the Minister for Finance when he was the Minister for Lands not to renew the lease when it expired. That land would have been allocated to squatters in my area. It is not benefiting anybody, including the Government, because there is no tax being paid for it. So, if we will implement this vision, that is one area that we need to concentrate on. The issue of squatters in this country is very serious. We have squatters living in slums in Mukurus, Sowetos, Gitare Marigos and other slums in this country. If only those people were given finances to put up proper houses, this country would change a lot. I believe that the Minister will possibly now come up with a way in which we shall be able to finance our people. When we improve our infrastructure, the biggest beneficiaries are those who drive cars. Although the poor ones will still ride in matatus, but it is time we went to the slums and constructed roads for them and provided them with other amenities like water. We will not be leaving the poor community of our areas far much behind. We know that when they buy unga, milk and sugar, they pay tax. So, tax is not only paid by rich people. Even those who have cannot escape paying taxes. They may not be paying directly like we do, but they pay through Value Added Tax (VAT) and other ways. So, it is important to consider them when planning development in this country. We should consider their areas by putting up a few tarmacked roads. Tarmacked roads should not only be for major roads and main towns. We should construct good roads in slums so that those people living there can also enjoy the fruits of this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, professionally, I am a banker. Long time ago when I was in the banking industry, banks were required to lend 20 per cent of their lending capital to the farmers. I do not know what happened because that rule was scrapped. If this country will develop, we must consider farmers. We must make sure that a farmer has an easy way of accessing loans and other credit facilities. For those who did not want to lend the farmers, the money was deposited with the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) for an onward transmission to the farmers. If they felt that they did not have credible customers or farmers who could borrow money, they would lend that money to the agricultural institutions in this country. However, that is not the case today. Banks are now lending money to those people with securities or debentures. Previously, before this Government came into power, they were buying Treasury Bills and Bonds. That money never earned anything for this country. They were simply getting interest. For them, it was safer to buy Treasury Bills and Bonds because there was no risk. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am glad and I want to thank the Government because the Treasury Bonds rates are not high. Therefore, nobody wants to deposit his money in the Treasury Bonds or Bills. I hope this will be maintained. I hope we will not start borrowing money through the Treasury Bonds. But for farmers to benefit, for heavens sake, let the banks start financing them. Even if the commercial banks are not able to, let them approach the Co-operative Bank of Kenya and see how they can assist farmers in this country. The Co-operative Bank lends money to the farmers' co-operative and other co-operative societies. I am aware that the Government has advanced some money to AFC. I am also aware that they have also assisted the Co-operative Bank of Kenya by clearing some of their debts which would never have been paid. But that is not enough. We need to make it mandatory for all the banks to be able to deposit some November 1, 206 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3347 money with the farmers' institutions. When banks lend money to farmers, they should not ask for debentures. But when it is another businessman, they consider debentures. It is time that the Banking Act was relooked with at view to getting banks to assist the farmers. If we do so, we shall reap more benefits and assist farmers in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not want to say much because I do not have the strength to stand for a long time. However, I want to urge the Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade to be looking at these clauses in advance. I have been a chairman of that Departmental Committee. We used to scrutinize every clause. So, even if hon. Members do not have a chance to do it, they would greatly benefit from the input of that Committee. They should not just bring a copy of the amendments to the table here. They should also supply it to hon. Members, so that they are able to understand all these clauses. I agree that even hon. Members should look at it, but sometimes, it takes a lawyer like Mr. Muturi to know all those laws which need to be amended. It also requires a lot of time to get it done. However, all in all, I would like to support this Bill by saying that the Minister has not gone overboard, except that he needs to look at a few areas which affect us most. Many hon. Members have talked about insurance. It is true that when you look at matters concerning motor vehicle insurance, especially the one that covers third party, you will find that putting a limit would be disastrous because \"third party\" refers to any other person. As I speak, my car was involved in an accident. In this case, I am the third party. I have been hospitalised for more than a month. This will cost me a lot of money. I would expect that, third party insurance covers would help people take care of such incidences. I think it is not fair to put a limit of what the policies can cover. I think it is important to look at the insurance part of it. It is also important to look at Clause 37 of the Bill and see that it does not affect the allowances. We do not always spend all the allowances that we receive. Some of them eventually go to other people. I support this Bill and thank all those people who prayed for me and supported me in all ways."
}