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{
    "id": 482115,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/482115/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 253,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "regime which will not scare away investors but will maximize what we get from those reserves. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to conclude by saying that taxation measures must be undertaken both with a human face and a human soul and I have alluded to the fact and it is not just alluding. However, it is a fact but today a good majority of our people, particularly those of us who represent rural areas, can hardly make ends meet. It is a daily struggle but if we undertake tax measures with a human face and give it a human soul, then we would be able to use the tax money more transparently. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I remember in the 10th Parliament we had a very interesting debate when one of my colleagues, hon. John Mbadi had just requested for the revenue account of Government for a certain period of time and it became an issue. It was just like it was an anathema to request the revenue account. Then you start to wonder why it would be so difficult to bring the revenue account for a particular period if somebody somewhere is not maybe very keen on giving the accurate figure. So much as we embark on these tax reforms, let us also be transparent both in the way we collect and in the way we utilise them. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, as I conclude, I want to say and I have said it before, after we tax we must strike a delicate balance between the demand and the supply side of taxation as well as the demand and supply side of essential goods and services. You remember last year some of us on the CORD side were opposed to the amendments to the Value Added Tax Act but it was not just for the sake of it. This is because while one side was looking at the demand side, we were concerned whether we have the optimal levels of balances between both the supply and the demand side. Ultimately, we were proved right that when you take taxation measures that do not fall in tune with what is pertaining on the ground, it affects everybody indiscriminately. So, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, even as we support this Finance Bill, we hope that the taxation measures that will be taken will have both a human face and a human soul and at the end of the day Kenyans who are really the reason we collect taxes, will derive the maximum benefit from the taxes that we collect. I support, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker."
}