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{
    "id": 841613,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/841613/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 529,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "Narok whose family could not even afford to support them – now have a burden of Kshs100,000 on top of them. I think people should stop giving birth; because it is sad. Madam Temporary Speaker, when you have been elected by people from your constituency and you have been brought here, you loathe the fact that they are being treated unjustly. You develop hatred for all the challenges that they have to go through. A poor mama mboga at home who relied on a gorogoro, a small tin of corn or maize – God has been faithful and gentle to us –is now buying it at Kshs30. When she has to take it to the posho mill, where she would pay Kshs5 before, she now has to pay Kshs20. I mean, seriously, if you do not care about those poor people, what is all this nonsense of the Big Four Agenda? Why can you not go back to living within our means? It is sad that the former county councils used to collect more revenue. Where is that money going? I think the President missed an opportunity here when the Members of the National Assembly sent the Bill to him and suggested zero VAT or actually suspending the tax. The MPs wanted to suspend the tax by two more years to see where else the President can collect that money; or whether he can sensitize communities to know that choices have consequences, but he did not take it. He should have taken that opportunity to ensure that cigarettes are taxed. When you go to Dubai, you will find that a packet of cigarettes is Kshs1,000, while here it is Kshs230. Similarly, a bottle of Glenfiddich, which sells here for Kshs9,000, probably sells there for about Kshs15,000 or Kshs20,000. Why not tax this? Madam Temporary Speaker, one of the things that really disappointed me today is on this betting tax and all these other hidden taxes that no one is talking about. People are so fixated to talking about the 8 per cent VAT, but they are not looking at the cost to them when transferring money from one account to another. They are not looking at all the other hidden taxes. It is imperative that even when these Members of the National Assembly are going through clause by clause, they should be open enough to tell Kenyans that we are in shit and that we can no longer survive. When you do not have money to buy something to eat, you should not try to drive a Lamborghini; just drive a Probox; a “problem box.” Solve your problems with a problem box. Trying to drive a Lamborghini when you cannot afford it is ludicrous."
}