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{
    "id": 601965,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/601965/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 213,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Nakara",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2926,
        "legal_name": "John Lodepe Nakara",
        "slug": "john-lodepe-nakara"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Bill. This country is very rich. If we can curb wastage and corruption, we will have a lot of money and we will be self-reliant. Taxes are good and all persons should pay taxes. Without taxes, our economy cannot grow and develop. We cannot repay our debts. As much as we encourage our people to pay taxes, we must counter-attack the counterfeit goods that are coming into this country in big numbers. There are two kinds of businesses that are operating in this country, namely, businesses that operate in darkness where counterfeit goods are sold and those who are selling genuine goods and are making a lot of losses. For us to raise taxes to support our economy, we must support the agency that deal with counterfeits in this country. We should give them some reinforcement like police officers especially when they are going to arrest some of the people, some of who are very dangerous. People who are dealing with counterfeit goods in this country possess guns and have militias. For the counterfeit agency to deal with those people, it needs reinforcement. They need some police officers to accompany them. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Kenya is one of the highly taxed countries in Africa. We are taxed very badly. Last week, some banks wanted to increase interest rates to 24 per cent and yet, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) lends them money at 9 per cent. That is corruption of the highest order. We are very happy that Equity Bank suspended that interest. It was very high. Corruption is the big animal that swallows the taxes that we pay to the Government. People must declare their wealth before they join the Government or the county government, so that it is known how much they are worth. I am happy about what Governor Mutua has done. I do not know whether he did it with good intentions or it was just ile sarakasi yake ya kawaida. But we must declare our wealth when we join the Government or the county government. Today, somebody joins the Government and tomorrow, you have a big house, a big vehicle and chains of businesses running. You wonder where that money comes from. We need to emphasise the issue of personal wealthy declaration, so that we can curb corruption. We also need to look into the issue of officers at KRA. They are very corrupt. Maybe, we need to pay them good salaries, so that they do not take bribes and prevent some people from paying taxes. We need to encourage county governments to collect taxes. We should not only leave the national Government to collect taxes. In the counties, we have big businessmen. So, we want to encourage our counties to collect taxes from the county level, so that they can complement the Budget that the national Government is presenting. Finally, I want to join Hon. (Ms.) Wambui Munene in saying that our people need to be educated. We need to create awareness on paying taxes. There are people who buy some items and the businessmen tell them that they do not need receipts. They just take the goods like that. 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."
}