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{
    "id": 427236,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/427236/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 443,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Kanyua",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 981,
        "legal_name": "Priscilla Nyokabi Kanyua",
        "slug": "priscilla-nyokabi-kanyua"
    },
    "content": "(Amendment) Bill and give my friend, hon. John Mbadi, qualified support. In the Jubilee Coalition, where I serve as a Member, the VAT law is extremely important in terms of raising revenue, part of which has been used for the cash transfer programme. Coming to the VAT regime, I really want to support the removal of taxation from Solar for the benefit of not only Nyeri County but actually in the interest of the whole country where we still have many homes outside the national grid. Only 22 per cent of households are on the national electricity grid. The majority of our households are using kerosene, which has a lot of challenges. Kerosene causes a lot more poverty to the homes that are already poor. If we could have solar equipment outside the VAT regime, the country would be encouraging most of those homes to get into kerosene-free society. Therefore, I would urge that the solar power equipment matter be looked into as we debate this Bill. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, speaking to hon. John Mbadi, who is the Mover of this Bill, there are powers given to the Minister in the Act, through which he can exempt some commodities from VAT. So, without foretelling the fate of the Bill, it would be important that some of these matters are pursued within the powers that the Cabinet Secretary has to exempt some commodities from VAT. It is true that some of the medicaments that have been mentioned in the Bill ought to have been removed from the taxation regime even for a period of time. So, whether the Bill passes or not, the issue will be to pursue the matter with a view to ensuring that those medicaments are exempted from taxation even through the powers that the Cabinet Secretary has. That is something that will be effective for a period of time. The problem with passing law is that we make these matters permanent for our country. Even as I support exemption of VAT for solar equipment, we may need solar now but in another ten years, more households may be connected to the national electricity grid, which means that they will no longer require solar. So, it should be possible for us to review the tax regime. Including these items in the law may not be the best idea. The best idea might actually be to convince the Cabinet Secretary to remove some of the items from the VAT bracket for a period of time. As I speak about the items to be exempted from VAT, there was also the question of books. Many of us are young parents. This country has many children in school. Again, looking at the tax regime and the VAT in particular, we forgot to exempt text books and exercise books from the VAT regime. There might be reason in a country that is promoting academic standards to look at the matter of books. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, you do know the joke about Kenya; that if you want to hide money from a Kenyan, you put that money in a book. The Kenyan is never going to find that money. And I think that we need to challenge those stories by exempting taxation from books so that our children and even those of us who have left school can continue to read. We need books to be cheaper in our country. That may not necessarily require a change of law, but it may require the use of powers of the Cabinet Secretary. So, the VAT amendment Bill, we can support it to the extent that it streamlines collection of taxation; trade in the country and creates offences so that traders do not abuse the tax regime. However, whichever way, some of the products that we think are very important for our families and especially the lower income families, can be exempt even through the powers that are given to the Cabinet Secretary. 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."
}