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{
    "id": 788380,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/788380/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 182,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mbogo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13383,
        "legal_name": "Ali Menza Mbogo",
        "slug": "ali-menza-mbogo"
    },
    "content": "The Departmental Committee needs to relook into this matter and give the ERC the mandate it requires and give it full authority to take charge of the energy sector as they feel like. Furthermore, we have been discussing the issue of adulteration here. Kenyans have been conned. Kenyans have been messed up. Vehicles have been messed up because of adulteration of petroleum products where unscrupulous business people have used kerosene to adulterate super petrol and diesel. It is not because of the difference on international prices. When you look at the international price of petrol vis-a-vis the international price of diesel, kerosene is much higher in the international market. When that product lands in this country, what makes it cheaper is the tax regime we have in this country. Taxation of kerosene is much lower compared to taxation of diesel and super petrol. This has made it very attractive for unscrupulous business people to make money out of this adulteration. It is high time the Committee thought about introducing a proper taxation regime for kerosene, so that we bring it up to the level of super petrol and diesel. There will be no attraction or appetite for any person to think they can use kerosene and upgrade it to become super petrol. We know the damage it has done to so many motor vehicles in this country. A lot of revenue has been lost in that sector. It is high time we, as a country, rethink about that. I know we have always been talking about kerosene as a poor man’s product because it is the main product being used for illumination in our homes, cooking and other uses. But it is time, we, as politicians, and this House, made punitive decisions to bring the taxation regime for kerosene to that of super petrol and diesel, so that people who are not straight forward business people can stop doing what they have been doing. Finally, it is the issue of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). This is another area we need the Committee to put a lot of effort in. I am really happy that there were some directives that were issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and the Deputy President a few months ago on banning logging in this country. We know the destruction that has happened in this country. The forest cover of this country has been going down. Water catchment areas have been highly affected. The main reason of this destruction has been on energy consumption. About 70 per cent of Kenyans are still dependent of biomass energy. We need to relook at the penetration of LPG in this country. Today, this country consumes about 16 million kilos of LPG per annum vis-a-vis a population of 47 million. Per capita consumption is about 3 kilos. It is very low compared to countries like Senegal where per capita consumption of LPG stands at 12.5 kilos. It is time the Committee engaged the various Government bodies to introduce incentives in terms of, maybe, waiving the Value Added Tax (VAT) on the accessories. We appreciate the Government of the day for zero-rating LPG as a product. However, if you look at the accessories used like the LPG cylinder, burners, hosepipes and the rest, they still attract VAT. This has made it very difficult for a common mwananchi to afford those accessories. The only other option left to them is to continue using biomass. So, I am requesting and appealing to the Chairman and the Committee to pursue this line so that we can improve penetration of LPG into this country. We appreciate the Ministry of Energy has done a lot of commendable work. They have set aside some money to acquire LPG cylinders which will be distributed to various parts of the country. They have already mapped out the various counties that will benefit from the cheap cylinders which will be arriving in this country. We do not know when, but I know the process is ongoing. This will help in the penetration of LPG in the country. It will help in the conservation of our forests. With those few remarks, I support the Bill."
}