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{
    "id": 808357,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/808357/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 286,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kirinyaga Central, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. John Wambugu",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13382,
        "legal_name": "John Munene Wambugu",
        "slug": "john-munene-wambugu"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to also add my voice. At the outset, I do support the proposed Bill, more so about the Stamp Duty Act to waive stamp duty on the first home owners. We all know that every Kenyan wants to own a home. It is timely, though a drop in the ocean because we know how expensive properties are in Kenya. But a waiver of 4 per cent or 2 per cent, as the case may be, is timely. My only issue is that we are talking about first-time home owners and my view is that there are Kenyans who opt to put up homes. They buy plots and then construct buildings. The exemption should also be extended to them so that if you are buying a plot with the intention of putting up a home, and it is your first home, you should also enjoy this tax waiver. We also need to be very careful on how this exemption is going to be implemented. You may be a first-time home owner and you want to buy a house worth about Kshs100 million. To me, you are not a poor person. Even if you own a home for the first time, the value of the house you are buying really shows that you are a man of means and there should be no exemption. That is food for thought as we go forward. Also, we should not open another window for cartels, the people who thrive on corruption, to use this tax incentive and avoid paying duty in the guise that they are buying their first homes. On the issue of gambling, the introduction of 20 per cent tax on people who win betting, lottery and gaming, that is also very timely. It is my view that gambling should be discouraged. When you earn some money from gambling, it is like any person who has earned money from maybe giving some services. So once you get this windfall, it should be taxed so that you also contribute to the economy of the country. Further, even as we talk about introducing these taxes so that the country can make more money, we must be alive to the fact that gambling is not supposed to be devolved to every corner of this country. It should be well controlled because it should be a game for the well-to-do. If you allow every person to be able to gamble in our small villages, that even a school-going kid can gamble, because we have made gambling machines available at the local level that is very bad for the country. We will be encouraging our youth not to work or study hard because they will think you can make it through a windfall from gambling. About the VAT, it was explained by the chair of the finance committee that they are going to push for amendments to ensure that whatever is being proposed to be exempted and was zero-rated before should remain exempted. As it was explained, when you exempt, the cost of that item invariably goes high. With those few remarks, td, I support. Thank you."
}