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{
    "id": 664233,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/664233/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 22,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "improve and of all the farmers whether in Mumias, Awendo or Muhoroni, it all adds up to the national basket. As we look into amending this Bill, we should look at taxation in Kenya. I was in this House at the commencement of the 11th Parliament when we made very comprehensive amendments to VAT. Some of us had complained that some of these amendments did not go into the heart of looking into what it does to our people. At that time, we were told we needed to look at demand and supply of things. We were told that by imposing more tax, we will provide welfare schemes for our people. Some of the people who had been at the forefront in proposing the taxes which were clearly punitive to our people were very embarrassed to find that in their backyards, people were rioting to protest those taxes because they did not reflect, for example, that when VAT was imposed on chicken feeds, it affected farmers because the cost of eggs became too expensive. When it was imposed on feeds for rearing pigs, it became very expensive. This is a good move by Hon. Wamunyinyi to recognise a need, which is making what our farmers get from the input of their labour go down and instead make this commodity that is used in every household in Kenya expensive and unaffordable. We should be creative in the way we impose tax. We should realise that the moment you impose a tax, it is some sort of a covenant with the people. You are telling them that for the money they are giving you, as a Government, this is what you intend to give in turn. I support this Bill. It is a small Bill and I would like to urge my colleagues to support it, so that we can remove the burden of tax. Sugarcane production is facing a barrage of threats. Sugar produced in Kenya is more expensive than imported sugar. We should look for ways of making locally produced sugar affordable to the people of Kenya and a source of meaningful livelihood for our farmers instead of imposing taxes which makes it both expensive and less rewarding to those who engage in sugarcane farming. With those remarks, I beg to second."
}