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{
    "id": 671840,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/671840/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 350,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "When I read the Micro and Small Enterprise Act, 2012, I do not see why these categories that are being brought forward by Sen. Wamatangi could not have been taken care of under the existing Act. This is because the existing Act has a definition that attempts to define micro and small enterprises as enterprises whose annual turnover does not exceed Kshs500,000. I do not expect the annual turnover of artisans, fishmongers and hawkers to exceed Kshs500,000. Many of these street enterprises that we see employ less than ten people. In other words, a strict liberal interpretation of the Micro and Small Enterprises Act, 2012 would provide cover for the small scale traders that we want to incorporate. I believe that what Sen. Wamatangi is trying to do is, for the avoidance of doubt, to ensure that anyone reading that Act knows that beyond any reasonable doubt that the Act shall apply to those categories of business persons or informal sector players that he has defined. The challenges faced by players in the micro and small enterprise sector have been laid out very articulately by my colleagues and particularly, by Sen. Wamatangi. He laid the case very well, even though I was challenging him that he was reading a speech. However, it was a speech containing statistics. However, as at 2015, no money had been appropriated to this Fund. It is interesting that money is not being appropriated to a sector that contributes 18 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs millions of Kenyans when every other day one hears about high-placed individuals running away with millions of shillings from public coffers. Therefore, we expect that when we get our act together and put money in this Fund, it will provide some credit support to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This amendment also provides policy support to the small timers or businessmen who really drive the economy of this country. The Micro and Small Enterprises Authority that is established under Section 29 has been in place for the last three years. This law was enacted in 2012. We must ask ourselves what has been the significant achievements of the SMEs Authority. In the ideal sense, a look at the objectives and the functions that the SMEs Authority is supposed to undertake gives you confidence that the small traders, hawkers, artisans and the fishmongers are going to get some policy support. They are going to get an Authority that is only committed to look into their own issues. The objectives of this Authority are so nice that sometimes I wonder why we have not had the envisaged take- off of the informal sector. The objectives have been crafted in a noble manner. One would have expected, in three years’ time, our hawkers to be treated in a less antagonistic manner. There are reports that have been circulated in the public domain that in Nairobi County alone, hawkers contribute to about US$1 million a month in bribes. Not in revenue coming from legitimate sources like permits and taxes, but rather in bribes. There is a programme that has been airing on television and no one has gone to court to challenge what that programme has been talking about. It is called J icho Pevu. It is about city council inspectorate officials who go around collecting bribes from hawkers in broad daylight. They kill the businesses of those people and take away what they have contributed throughout their lifetime. If this Authority has been in place for the last three The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}