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{
    "id": 808319,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/808319/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 248,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba North, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 376,
        "legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
        "slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I know when you say Hon. Odhiambo Akoth most people do not know who that is. Most people know me as Amilo Geza Geza. Be that as it may, I stand to support this Bill. Even in supporting, I want to say that ordinarily, I was not very well minded to support but now that the Departmental Committee on Finance and Planning has said that they are going to propose amendments relating to the VAT Act, then I will support However, even as I support, I want to say that whoever thought of levying taxes on basic commodities like milk, medicine and sugar, especially with the prevailing circumstances in the country, was not very wise. You know a lot of women rely on milk. Lactating mothers rely on milk and when you are talking about medicine, we have people with lifelong diseases like HIV/AIDS, diabetes and several other diseases. They can hardly afford the medicine leave alone when we levy further taxes on them. As for sugar I do not even want to mention. We are taxed through mercury and then we come here and we want to tax again in Parliament. Whoever thought about it was very ill advised but I thank the Departmental Committee on Finance and Planning that they have rethought it and they are bringing amendments, which I will support. I know Members have spoken a lot to the proposed amendment to the Income Tax Act on the winnings on gaming. I do not know if it was Hon. Duale who was saying that a lot of our youth are now involved in gambling. A lot of our women are not doing their work and people are not going to the shambas because of gambling. I think it is the opposite. It is not that people are not going to work because of gambling. People are gambling because there is no work. We have very many youths who are not employed. We have women who cannot make ends meet. We have an idle population in this country which is a ticking time bomb. Just now we have seen thousands of boda boda riders from Nairobi outside Parliament demonstrating because they are not being allowed to operate within the city because we are bringing laws that are not sensitive or realistic to the needs of Kenyans. Even though I know gambling is a bad thing, I am not encouraging it. In fact, it is destroying a lot of lives. I want to tell Hon. Duale that it is not only in Islam that it is outlawed. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}