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{
    "id": 245468,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/245468/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 140,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. H.M. Mohamed",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 394,
        "legal_name": "Hussein Maalim Mohamed",
        "slug": "hussein-mohamed"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I would also like to join my colleagues by making some comments on the Budget Speech. June 28, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1661 When the Minister was presenting the Budget, I thought I was in a campaign rally. It was totally addressing a campaign rally and it did not have anything meaningful for our people. When I looked at the Minister's Speech later, I realized that the whole idea was to collect more and more taxes. That is exactly what the Budget was all about. The Minister introduced the capital gains tax which was abolished many years ago. This will discourage investors, especially those in the real estate business. When you sell your property, 3 per cent of the total price of your property is retained as tax. That is a lot of money! So, if you are in real estate business and you sell several houses, a lot of your money will be retained by the Government. I think that is very unfair. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of VAT, hotels and restaurants will also pay an extra 2 or 3 per cent extra in VAT. I think the Minister wanted to make people happy so that the Government can be voted back to power next year. I think the fuel levy of Kshs3.20 on every litre of fuel sold in this country has spoilt everything for the Government. The increase in fuel levy touches on almost every sector of our lives. This will make the prices of foodstuffs, transport and other items to go up. Therefore, the increase in the amount of money chargeable per litre of petrol for the Fuel Levy Fund does not have anything meaningful. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister has proposed to sell some Government vehicles. That is rubbish because a second-hand Mercedes Benz car today goes for less than Kshs1 million. If Government vehicles are offered for sale today, they will all be sold at throw-away prices. That is wrong. I suggest that the vehicles should be taken away from Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and other senior officers, and given to the Police Department, hospitals and other public institutions which require them, so that they can carry out their duties effectively. Many hospitals do not have vehicles. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the creation of the Youth Fund is a good idea. However, the money should be allocated to specific projects. If the Kshs1 billion voted for the youth is not disbursed to specific projects countrywide, it will end up being given to one district or one constituency. Therefore, we must divide this money among the constituencies. The Kshs1 billion should be disbursed equally to the 210 constituencies. Otherwise, the whole amount will end up in one district or in two or three constituencies. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) has done some good to the country. We must congratulate the Government for the good things it has done. We passed the CDF Act in the previous Parliament but the Government in power then did not want the money released to the constituencies. One good thing that this Government has done is releasing this money to the constituencies. I also want the allocation for the CDF increased. The current 3 per cent of the National Budget allocation is little. It should be increased to, at least, 5 per cent, so that each constituency can get a good amount of money."
}