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{
    "id": 419299,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/419299/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 342,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Letimalo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 68,
        "legal_name": "Raphael Lakalei Letimalo",
        "slug": "raphael-letimalo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this amendment Bill. I want to say from the outset that I support it. It is important to appreciate the fact that the Government has to raise revenue through taxation in order for it to be able to meet the cost of developing projects. I just want to remind my colleague that the standard gauge railway is a major national project but the Government of Kenya is not able to raise revenue to meet the costs of that particular project. That is why we had to get support from outside the country to be able to undertake the project. Once that project is complete, it will certainly have a positive impact in Kenya and more so on the communities living along the railway line. The railway will reduce the cost of transport to the extent that even poor members of society will be able to transport their goods and services to the market. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, they are not able to do it now because of the high cost of transportation. Therefore, it is important. It is equally important that the LAPSSET project, once undertaken and completed, will connect Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan; countries we trade with and it will also affect the lives of people along that particular area positively. Therefore, that notwithstanding, even though the Government requires revenue so as not to depend on foreign aid, it is equally important that we look at the areas we feel that through taxation, our people are not going to be affected. I want to thank hon. Ng’ongo for the areas that he has zeroed in. One area is on drilling services. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for those of you who come from Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL), one of the characteristic of ASAL areas is scarcity of water. Water is actually life and particularly for the pastoralists who depend on livestock for their livelihood. They survive on borehole water, but one cannot get people to sink boreholes in these areas, in fact, we get people from Meru, Nakuru and even Nairobi. Given that the cost of sinking boreholes is prohibitive, we are forced to sink very few boreholes yet the population is high. Therefore, certainly, with the removal of VAT, boreholes and water points will increase. For those areas that are far away from the national grid, the Kenya Power Company should install solar systems through the Rural Electrification Authority. This is actually going to be helpful to the people. Just as we were discussing yesterday, the Budget and Appropriations Committee Report, every constituency will be given money so as to build youth polytechnics to take care of our youth who probably may not be able to transit to higher institutions of learning. These people are going to acquire vocational skills. We need to ask ourselves The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}