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{
    "id": 377293,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/377293/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 517,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Tonui",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1242,
        "legal_name": "Ronald Kiprotich Tonui",
        "slug": "ronald-kiprotich-tonui"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have waited for what looked like forever to get this chance. I stand to support this Bill. The other day, we approved the 2013/2014 Budget which was coming to about Kshs1.6 trillion. This Government requires funds to fund its operations both at the national level and the county level. So, it must look for resources to fund these expenditures. One of the sources is the VAT. I fully support this. I am a Member of the Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade and going through this Bill, I believe that the people who sent me here will be quite happy with this Bill. It is friendly to them because their areas of interest have been taken care of notably in terms of exemptions. For example, maize flour is being exempted from the VAT. There is a proposal to add sugar to the list of the exempted items. Fertilizer has also been exempted and because we are a farming community, this is a good thing to us. Milk is also being exempted, which we rely on in Bomet. Bomet County is a tea growing region. The fact that the VAT Bill is proposing to zero-rate tea mainly for export, will encourage the protection of tea. This is good because it is going to earn more foreign exchange for this country. It is unfortunate that when we are discussing this, the House is not full yet it is a very major Bill. All the same, we will do it. It is unfortunate that sometimes, we do not take time to read Bills. Even me, I might not have read all of them. The other day, we were here busy defending our positions as Jubilee and CORD and we could not even look at the details of the Appropriations Bill which we approved, we could not ascertain the information on KERRA. I would have wished that we take time to read these Bills, so that when we pass them, they will help our people. The Budget is huge, but it is for the better because it is going to help our youths by providing the money that they require for self employment. It is also going to improve our roads. The roads in Bomet are quite impassable. So, I beg to support this Bill."
}