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"id": 245043,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Sungu",
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"legal_name": "Gor Eric Sungu",
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"content": "Mr. Chairman, Sir, allow me to congratulate my colleague hon. Wetangula for talking about the sugar industry boldly. It is imperative for the Government to support those sectors of the economy that support the large masses of our country. It is also important to ensure that we practise affirmative action. It is clear that the vast areas in this country that represent the sugarcane-growing areas and which sustain over 10 million people are being discriminated against by the Government. I would have been so happy had my colleague, the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, hon. Wetangula, said that if the Minister for Finance does not listen to him, then he will resign from this Government. This amounts to discrimination against the people of Western Kenya and even the Coast Province where we intend to start growing sugarcane. Mr. Chairman, Sir, with this matter of Sugar Development Levy, I wish to plead with the Minister that the mark of greatness is to be able to walk backwards in order to accommodate everybody. \"Please, reconsider your decision to transfer this tax to the farmer and ensure that even the importers are included so that we do not destroy this industry.\" I speak with enormous respect for the Minister because I believe he is a human being and that he will understand the problems of this country. We do not want laws to be changed through the back-door. We want laws changed through Bills in this House. That matter of the Sugar Development Levy is so important because it is going to affect so many people. In fact, all of us from the sugarcane-growing areas might never come back to this House if the Minister proceeds with what he has proposed to do. Mr. Chairman, Sir, allow me to comment on an issue which is also very close to your heart and this is in relation to retirement benefits. The Minister has proposed that these benefits should be taxed if one does not withdraw them after attaining the age of 50 years. Again, this amounts to discrimination. Those benefits are already taxed! Why would the Minister want to discriminate against those who want to leave their jobs so that they can also contribute in other ways to the economy by going, say, into business? People who retire early, most probably, would like to join July 4, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1785 other sectors of the economy so that they can build this country better. If you want to tax their benefits when they are retiring; that is, when they are still very young, then I beg to submit that this will, in fact, amount to retardation of the economy and double taxation. The interest on mortgages is an issue that is very close to the hearts of many Kenyans. These interest rates are too high. If you compared our situation with other countries, say, the United Kingdom, their interest rates never go beyond 6 per cent. However, in our case we pay over 12 per cent which is too high. That is why I want to say that the creation of the Transfer Tax should be looked into. It amounts to discouraging investment in the housing industry. Mr. Chairman, Sir, we need to encourage people who want to buy houses because most of our people are still very poor. In fact, those who want to buy houses are people who are just coming up and yet they are required to pay 10 per cent deposit. Then there is the transfer cut which is 6 per cent. As if that is not enough, there is the lawyers fee and other fees to pay. This amounts to discouraging people from buying houses and yet we want our people to own houses so that they can develop from the early stages. We do not want to wait until one is 25 years old or above to be able to buy property. We want to encourage property ownership. Therefore, to address this issue we must also look at the question of reducing those taxes. Mr. Chairman, Sir, I was very happy when I learnt that the Minister was increasing duty on things like beer and cigarettes. These are what are called goods of ostentation. They are not necessary. Things that people cannot do without are called necessities. We can all do without beer or cigarettes. It has been proved that some of these items are actually dangerous to human life. Therefore, I would like to encourage the Minister to even double the taxes levied on such commodities to discourage our people from consuming them. With respect to the question of zero-rating of wheat, even though the Minister is deeply engrossed in conversation with his colleagues and might not hear my plea, this is amounting to encouraging importers to flood the market with imported wheat. This is what has happened in the sugar industry. What kind of people will we be if we keep on encouraging people with money to import products that we can actually produce here by creating a tax-free environment for them? Take the example of the sugar industry. I, therefore, want to plead with the Minister to reconsider that matter because it will only amount to discrimination against farmers. Instead of zero-rating wheat per se, why can the Minister not zero-rate all the implements and inputs that are necessary for the production of crops such as wheat and other cash crops that our people need to grow in order to live well. Mr. Chairman, Sir, I will now talk about Income Tax. On the question of development of infrastructure by investors and inclusion of taxes thereof, I applaud the Minister on that move because it is supposed to encourage further development of our infrastructure which is already in a pathetic state. However, it is very necessary for the Minister to institute measures to ensure that there is no misuse of such a facility. This is because such a facility is often taken advantage of by the people who have a lot of money. The same comment will pass for the investment made in the public sector, for example, building of hospitals and construction of roads. We all need that kind of investment and we welcome any investment by the private sector which is necessary. We really support that. However, we want to make sure that there is no misuse of this facility. Mr. Chairman, Sir, with those remarks, I beg to support."
}