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{
    "id": 482382,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/482382/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 182,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Chanzu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 11,
        "legal_name": "Yusuf Kifuma Chanzu",
        "slug": "yusuf-chanzu"
    },
    "content": "Authority (KRA) and others - should widen the scope so that they are able to collect more tax. I remember some time back - about two or three years ago - there was the idea of collecting tax from those having properties - houses and so on. They were not able to put in place proper mechanisms to do that. What the property owners would do is hike the rent so that those who are renting the houses pay more to the extent that the landowners end up not paying anything. Those are the diversifications that the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) should look at. I will give an example of Safaricom. They started charging Kshs1,000 for airtime. When they realized that they were not dealing with as many people as possible and lowered it to Kshs500. Then they came lower to Kshs250, Kshs100 and eventually, Kshs20. At that rate, if they had, say, 10 million customers, they could still reach everybody and they could collect Kshs200 million just at a go. That is why they have been able to collect a lot of money and grow very fast. I think our economy can grow faster if those who are charged with that responsibility do not just work in a bureaucratic way. People just come to the office in the morning at 8.00 a.m. and wait for lunch at 1.00 p.m. They come back at 2.00 p.m. and wait for 5.00 p.m. to put on their clothes and go home. If we stopped this, I think we will be able to net more tax without burdening a few people. The other thing which is important is the service delivery to those who pay tax. Traditionally, there was a belief that only those who are salaried are the ones who pay tax. Every time we forget that every citizen pays VAT on everything they buy, whether it is Kshs10 or Kshs20. On most of those items, they pay VAT at 16 per cent. On every Kshs100 they spend, Kshs16 goes to KRA. When dealing with distribution or service delivery, we must take all that into account; that all Kenyans are paying tax and so they must get services. This brings me to the point about devolution. When we were devolving, one of the main issues was to take service delivery closer to the people. We have, however, got in a situation where those who believe that devolution was meant for them are treating the money as if it is their own. It is like they are doing charity to wananchi . They are only custodians of the money! The Constitution stresses on wide consultations and public participation. You will find some of them incurring very heavy expenditure without even having public participation or making consultations. You will find Governors buying equipment for doing road works worth Kshs100 million without any consultations. This equipment will be used to make just one road and then the rest of the time the money is tied in the equipment. The Ministry in charge of roads does not buy the machines. They have a 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."
}