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{
    "id": 5937,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/5937/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 450,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Muthama",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 96,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Nduya Muthama",
        "slug": "johnson-muthama"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I also stand to support this Bill which has been brought by my brother, the Attorney-General. I want to make my contribution on the basis of my profession as a businessman. The purpose of this Bill is partnership and making laws in terms of partnerships, according to my understanding is that, it should be based on protecting the interest of Kenyans. The experience I want to share with this House is that in a small country like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today, no foreigner can move there to set up a business, operate it and be licensed by the Government without involving the people of Dubai. If you go to Dubai today, you will see that there are partners who never leave their homes. They work with foreign partners and pay them salaries. They also pay dividends at the end of the year. That has contributed to reducing poverty in Dubai. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the law here should be strengthened to make sure that Kenyans are protected. We have seen multi-national companies which come into our county, go to a place like Kwale where titanium mining was to take place, the first thing that will be done by the Government is to mobilize poor Kenyans, take them into one area and start offering them compensation of a few thousand shillings. A titanium mining industry in Kwale was to cost billions of shillings in investment. You will find the owners of the land there being given a few shillings as compensation and then they are thrown out. This happens, yet no Kenyan is offered an opportunity to have shares in that company. I even want to talk about investors in Maasai Mara, South Coast, North Coast, farming in Rift Valley and all parts of this country, including within the city of Nairobi. The country has gone into the hands of foreigners in preference of foreign investments. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, my suggestion is - if the Attorney-General will take note - to make sure that as we go to county governments, any investor who goes to any county to invest automatically the residents of that area are given a certain number of shares in that company so that they could be players and participate fully. We have business people who are so shrewd that by using the name of foreign investors, they come here and have exemption from paying taxes for two years. They make profits and take the profits away. After they work for ten years, they use 20 per cent of their profits to employ local Kenyans whereas 80 per cent of the profit is taken out of the country. Kenyans are watching and are not happy with what is happening. I suggest that in this Bill, we make sure that nobody comes here as a foreign investor and is licensed to run the business without involving Kenyans. Share contribution is mentioned in this Bill. That is a big predicament. Expecting Kenyans to be players in joining those companies as partners with the amount invested would be next to impossible. I believe that a private investor should be allowed to invest without interference. At the same time, the consideration of the ownership of the same business that is being operated in Kenya should be considered seriously and Kenyans should be allowed to own shares in those companies. With those very few remarks, I beg to support."
}