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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I wish to commend the Minister for bringing this important Bill to the House. I would like to reiterate the importance of this Bill. If anybody would care to go into history, they would know that Parliament started in Old England in those early centuries, and the maxim then was: \"No taxation without representation\". We represent the people of Kenya and we should be allowed to make sure that we debate fully all measures to do with taxation and all financial policies effectively and properly, and no attempt should be made to hurry this House. It will also be important and prudent for hon. Members, especially those on the Government side, instead of coming as voting machines, they should listen to debate from both sides so that we can decide for this country as one people, because this affects us, whether we are in the Opposition or in the Government. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Bill addresses important issues; it has taxation measures, Customs and Excise duties, Value Added Tax (VAT), Income Tax and other miscellaneous taxes. In fact, it gives legal effect to those things that we have looked at in the Budget. Let me comment on a few items only. I come from a background of insurance. Before becoming an hon. Member, I was an insurance loss adjuster. So, I am well versed with what goes on in the insurance industry. It does not matter much whether the Minister reduces the deposit for brokers from Kshs5 million to Kshs3 million or not. What is important is that there ought to be rules. Those rules must be followed so that when a broker receives money from a client or an insured person, then that money should be remitted automatically to the insurer. Many people have suffered at the hands of brokers and insurance agents. When you are paying, they say that they are the agents of the insurer, but when there is a claim, they tell you that they were just your agents. So, the insurer is using the broker as a convenient way of avoiding direct contact with the insured, with the result that many people suffer after paying their money to the broker. If the money is not remitted, then that money is lost and no claim is paid. That is what we ought to look at. I want to commend the Minister because after listening to a lot of complaints and consulting widely with the leaders from sugar belt and those who care about the sugar industry, he finally agreed to make the necessary amendments to the Sugar Act. If we charge the Sugar Development Levy (SDL), it will literally destroy the sugar industry in this country. That is not acceptable because the sugar industry supports over 10 million Kenyans. These Kenyans, through ballot box, have the power to vote us out of this House. So, we must support them. I would urge the Minister to keep his word and ensure that he does what he has promised this House. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Bill also touches on amendments to other areas like the Government Financial Management Act of 2004. It is good that other professionals are being included here. Again, I would like to say that it would have been really nice if this was brought in the form of an amendment to a particular Act rather than through the Finance Bill. Questions are begging this Ministry with regard to the sourcing of the second national telephone operator in the telecommunications sector. We would like to know whether this system is now above board, transparent and accountable to the people of Kenya. Why, for example, did the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) agree to license the Econet Wireless at a cost of Kshs27 million and yet, the Kencell and Safaricom were asked to pay Kshs55 million respectively? There are many other questions begging for answers. These are the issues that we should be October 31, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3263 looking at in terms of the Finance Bill, rather than all those other mundane issues. We know, and I am sure questions will be asked at the opportune time, that we, as Parliament, have to look at these matters. This is because getting a second national telephone operator should not be taken lightly. It should not be done through the under-hand method where the procedure of tendering is not fair and transparent. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with regard to the Banking Act, some banks have been used to siphon out millions of shillings from poor Kenyans. We need to look at cases of Euro Bank, Trust Bank, Trade Bank and so on. We ought to be serious about these matters. I really would like to know from the Minister, when he replies, what is happening in the banking sector. The Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade has given the Charterhouse Bank an okay to go on with their business. However, the Government says the opposite. Which is which? We would like to know the truth. The law must be clear and simple. It should be like a straight lane from Miwani, where Prof. Olweny stays, to Kibos and Kisumu, where we cannot see the end of the road. We need to be clear on some laws. It is important that when we are amending the Banking Act as well as the Central Bank Act, we look at those issues. There is also the issue of employment. We need to be fair. I am still asking why Mr. Mullei was removed from the office. It is a shame that he had to be sacked and replaced with another person. Maybe tomorrow whoever replaced him will also be sacked. Why do we not just follow the law and make sure that whatever we are doing is right regardless of which tribe one comes from? Of course, we also should reduce the reliance on financial aid from our development partners, to ensure that we manage our economy effectively."
}