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{
    "id": 662212,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/662212/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 243,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Rotich",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1242,
        "legal_name": "Ronald Kiprotich Tonui",
        "slug": "ronald-kiprotich-tonui"
    },
    "content": "The mandate of the Competition Authority is to conduct market enquiries. The Authority experiences challenges when seeking information from stakeholders who sometimes withhold vital information on grounds that it is not mandatory for them to provide the information. In order to enable the Authority to realise its mandate as envisaged by the law, I propose to amend the Competition Act to make it obligatory for stakeholders to provide information to the Authority when requested to do so. The Competition Authority further experiences challenges in imposing financial penalties after a company engages in restrictive trade practices. The Authority uses a 10 per cent maximum of the gross annual turnover based on international best practices in calculation of penalties. In order to create certainty in determination of penalty, I propose to amend the Competition Act to specify the financial penalty to be a maximum of 10 per cent of the gross annual turnover which is in line with the international best practices and also with regional competition agencies. In addition, the Authority receives various applications for mergers which have no effect on competition on restrictive trade practices. I propose to amend the Competition Act to set a threshold in order to exclude mergers whose effect has no great impact on competition on restrictive trade practices from the provisions of the Act. This will also reduce the administrative burden on the Authority and facilitate investment. Three years ago, we set ourselves a goal of implementing an Economic Transformation Agenda, one that was to strengthen our economy, deliver prosperity to Kenyans and propel Kenya to the middle income status level in line with the aspirations of the Vision 2030. This dream was realised when Kenya was classified as a lower-middle income country with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of US$1,245. Despite this notable progress, we are still not satisfied because we believe we can do more to uplift the livelihoods of all Kenyans and bring the country to upper middle income status. As I conclude, allow me to express my gratitude to my fellow Cabinet Secretaries and their Principal Secretaries for their support and contributions throughout this budget process. I am sincerely grateful to His Excellency the President and His Excellency the Deputy President for their unwavering leadership, guidance and support during the budget process and in particular during the budget retreat held in Naivasha in April 2016 which involved all Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries."
}