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"id": 518378,
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"content": "get a tax rebate for it. For instance, if you look at your payslip now, the taxman is creaming off about Ksh405,000 every month as tax and in 12 months, it is about Ksh6 million. If you demonstrate that your contributions to worthy causes amount that much, then the taxman should give you a rebate on your taxes, because you have supplemented the state responsibility for development out of your generous donations. More importantly, you may recall in the previous two Parliaments, we had a Committee set up and chaired by Hon. Koigi wa Wamwere. Their report had a damning indictment on the abuses of harambees. Our Committee went through that report and we were satisfied that what Hon. Koigi and his team said was true; that, harambees had fueled corruption, that is not arguable. It had also fueled theft of public funds, that is not arguable. You may recall previously – I hardly go to Government offices these days – when you went to see a Government official and he would welcome you very heartily and you would talk. But as you finish, he would tell you that incidentally, he had a harambee the next weekend. That: “Incidentally I have a harambee next week”, is not a polite way of asking for a donation. It is just a crude way of pursuing corruption. He would tell you how he would help your child join the school you wanted, but he has a harambee the next week. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, these kinds of things are what have destroyed our country and it runs through. When people go to chiefs to look for burial permits, he has a harambee book. People go to the mortuary to have the bodies of their loved ones attended to, they get harambee books; even at the mortuary. If we let our country go that way, we shall soon have no country. Here in Parliament, even distinguished colleagues who earn good money are still asking for harambee because of the pressures put on them elsewhere. Ati kesho naenda kanisa, enda uombe. I have noticed that even in your own constituency, when you go to a church – the distinguished Senator for Bomet is even showing me harambee cards that he is holding – it is no longer like the olden days where you woke up in the morning drove to church incognito, sit, pray to your God and go home. As soon as the service is over, it is announced that there is a distinguished person among them who should greet them. That greeting is not a just a greeting. You will only be clapped for when you eventually say that you have a personal donation to give to the church. They will clap for 10 minutes. However, if you do not say any such thing, it is like you have been to no church. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it has become so sad. We are taxed left, right and center. We live a dog’s life. Even as a public representative, when you go to your constituency and want to visit a school to greet the school children, if you are not carrying money, do not go there. Ukimaliza, lazima watoto watakula mkate. Many of us used to enjoy walking on the streets of Nairobi. Try it now and see how you will be taxed by everybody. This Bill is very important. You remember the obscenities people used to-- -There was a man from Kiambu called Kuria Kanyingi who used to carry money in sacks on a wheelbarrow to harambees . Those of you who have read contemporary history know that the only people who behave like that are the mafia. There is no way that you can carry your hard earned money on a wheelbarrow to a harambee. It is simply not possible. Even if you win a rotary, you cannot behave like that. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}