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{
    "id": 736494,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/736494/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 127,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Katoo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 199,
        "legal_name": "Judah Katoo Ole-Metito",
        "slug": "judah-ole-metito"
    },
    "content": "other necessities have gone up. The measures proposed in this Finance Bill will likely bring down the cost of those commodities, especially in the short term. Clauses 5, 9 and 10 of the Bill deal with those issues. Let me start with Clause 5(b). We have very serious charitable institutions or organizations that are very important in helping this country in terms of dealing with disasters like the one that has happened this morning in the Likoni Channel. We always have the Red Cross and the St. John’s Ambulance coming in aid of Kenyans during such times. Clause 5(b)(i) proposes to exempt excisable goods imported or purchased locally by St. John’s Ambulance for official use in provision of relief services in Kenya. The clause is also meant to bring the same taxation treatment to other relief agencies such as the Kenya Red Cross Society. I think it is a good measure. In the same clause, there is a provision which allows returning residents, or persons changing residence, to sell their left-hand vehicles and import right-hand drive vehicles. There are Kenyans who are serving abroad. The other day we were in Boston, where we found many Kenyans complaining that when they come back, they are allowed to bring with them one duty- free vehicle. But the problem is that the vehicles there are left-hand drive. This proposal is meant to allow Kenyans changing residence to sell their left-hand drive vehicles and buy duty-free right-hand drive vehicles in Kenya, so long as those vehicles do not exceed the value of the left- hand drive vehicles that will have been sold abroad. Previously, it was a must that the vehicles are of the same make, engine rating and year of manufacture. However, this time round with this proposal, that has been exempted. What matters is that the new vehicle should not exceed the value of the left-hand vehicle. That is a good proposal and I support it. Clause 9 proposes to zero-rate and remove from the Exempt Schedule, maize flour, wheat flour, muslin flour and ordinary bread. This is meant to cushion low income households from high prices of staple foods. One of the causes of the high cost of living that we are experiencing currently is the persistent drought in the eastern and southern African regions. The drought has hit even the countries that Kenya import maize from such as Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia. Our country requires about nine million bags of maize yearly, which we were unable to harvest."
}