{"id":840777,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/840777/?format=json","text_counter":55,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Ruaraka, ODM","speaker_title":"Hon. T.J Kajwang’","speaker":{"id":2712,"legal_name":"Tom Joseph Kajwang'","slug":"kajwang-tom-joseph-francis"},"content":" Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Chairlady. I thank those Members who are saying “zero”. I rise to oppose. Just before we vote, I want Members to know what they are voting for. I want to refer you to the Value Added Tax Act, Section 5, which states that the rate of taxation shall be zero per cent or 16 per cent. Section 6 gives the Cabinet Secretary (CS) powers to amend the rate of tax even through a Gazette Notice, if a value or percentage has been added to it. What does it mean? It means that if today we give 8 per cent, in the next one week, the CS will, by way of a Gazette Notice, without coming to the National Assembly, increase it to a maximum of 25 per cent. That is the law. For that reason, I oppose."}