Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 655955,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/655955/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 256,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. A.B. Duale",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 15,
        "legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
        "slug": "aden-duale"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. First, I thank members for contributing to this Bill. As I said earlier, this Bill is at the Second Reading. So, there is an opportunity for members to bring amendments at the Third Reading. If members read the memorandum of objects and reasons, they will get the gist of this Bill. When we repealed the Customs and Excise Act and created the Excise Act, which is now the law being used, there were certain levies and fees which were left unattended. They had no legal binding. This includes the IDF and the Railway Development Levy that has been introduced since the beginning of the construction of the SGR. The moment the SGR is complete, the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for the National Treasury will see if he will need that levy or not. The other thing in this Bill which we need to discuss soberly is how to protect the leather industry. Do we allow our raw leather to be exported and value addition to be done somewhere else before it is brought back to our county and we buy the goods? Do we protect our local leather industry and, through budgetary provision in this House, allow value addition to be done, jobs to be created, revenue to be received by Government and Kenyans to get value from that sector? The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chair has left. He was saying that Kenya is the only country where the rich are found. You should be proud of that. Countries compete to be in the list of the five richest countries in the world. There are people who compete. Our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown. You must set a mind-set of empowering the people and not one of poor people. As leaders, we should always give vision. We should empower the women, youth and the small businesses. If Kenya can produce the top 100 richest people in the world, this country will be great. That is why you see people like Mr. Dangote of Nigeria. Even though he is not a Kenyan, some of us are proud of him. He is one of the richest guys in the world. So, the PAC Chair needs to inspire the people of Rarieda. Unless he wants all the people of Rarieda to be very poor, he should be proud when there are two or three millionaires and billionaires from Rarieda. Some of us believe in empowerment. This is a small Bill that deals with levies and fees which were left when we created a very strong and vibrant Value Added Tax (VAT) regime. The Excise Act we have is the best in the region. Taxation is part of how a country can develop. The salaries that you earn as Members of Parliament are collected through the taxes collected. So, you cannot say that you do not want 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."
}