Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 421294,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/421294/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 270,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "accounts for anything. I remember a time when we were being whipped to support the Bill; we were concentrating on the supply side of things. We were told that by getting more money into the supply side of things, we would cushion the more vulnerable members of our society. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, those of us who were keen and have been following the goings-on in our country since the VAT Bill was passed in the last Session of Parliament, know that some very fundamental things have happened in Kenya. One, a lot of us may not know that our capital city, Nairobi, is the most expensive in Africa. In fact, it has overtaken Luanda in Angola, as the most expensive city in Africa. That is fundamental because it has an effect on foreign investments and the number of expatriates who want to come into our country. In fact, it has an effect on the number of tourists who want to come to Kenya; tourists weigh their options. They reason, I have got this much in my pocket to spend; do I go to Nairobi, Kampala or Dar es Salam? This is something we have to dispassionately, as hon. Members of this House, look at when we talk about Bills that directly affect the people of Kenya. As I have said before, we derive the legislative authority from the people because we speak on their behalf. What the people say is what should be the agenda of this House. Last week I stood here and asked why we are not tailoring our calendar of events to suit--- Why is the House Business Committee (HBC) not listening to the voice of the people? The people of Kenya have indicated that the cost of living is too high. The rich- poor divide is getting worse. It is not a good thing for us because we sit in this House as privileged members of the Kenyan society. But I can tell you, it is not a good thing for us for the rich-poor divide to widen. Recently, one of the leading media houses in the country published information on who is who in Kenya in terms of wealth. About 8,000 Kenyans belong to the super rich category. It is said that these 8,000 Kenyans who belong to the super rich own almost 80 per cent of the economy. That is a dangerous state of affairs because the next thing that will happen is that, when we push further those Kenyans who are not able to make ends meet – the numbers are increasing – we who belong to the privileged category will become the target of the poor. Therefore, in so far as this Bill is addressing the poverty levels in this country, and in so far as it is addressing the cost of living, it is a very good Bill. When hon. Ng’ongo was moving the amendment Bill, he cited areas that have not yet been comprehensively covered. I want to urge my colleagues that we dispassionately relook at the Bill that we passed, and if we feel that what hon. Ng’ongo has proposed is not comprehensive enough--- We may be thinking that by putting VAT on a lot of these items, we are going to increase the revenue collection. But we are forgetting that sometimes it is better to make goods and services affordable to many people. When many people are in the tax bracket, your tax proceeds are likely to be more; this is better than discouraging many people from participating in the economy through high tax rates. Therefore, in that respect, this is a good Bill and we need to look at it. I come from a fishing area of the country and some of our people have been affected. In fact, it is not just the fishing community that is affected; even the agriculture sector in this country is affected. You heard that the VAT Act was assented to, but first of all there was misinterpretation of it. Some unscrupulous businessmen took advantage of the provisions of the Act, or the apparent lacuna in those provisions to try to indiscriminately apply the 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."
}