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{
    "id": 846673,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/846673/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 200,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kitui Central, WDM – K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Makali Mulu",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1955,
        "legal_name": "Benson Makali Mulu",
        "slug": "benson-makali-mulu"
    },
    "content": "people who represent workers in this country. We need to oppose it in the strongest terms possible. It is discriminatory and will not help our people. The other issue is that of the 0.05 per cent charged when transferring more than Kshs500,000. This is another area where I support what the Committee has said. It is a grey area. There are a lot of gaps if we are to go ahead and effect this recommendation. It is clear that it will harm Kenyans. For example, if I have Kshs500,000 in account A which is a current account and I want to move that money to account B which is a savings account, it will be very unfair for me to be charged that fee. I am just transferring my own money. The other point is that in a case where I am paying taxes, I am sending money from my account to pay taxes to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) collecting account. It will also be very unfair if we charge such an expense. There is also the issue of paying money in terms of international obligations as a country. There is also the National Government - Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF). We transfer money to Project Management Committees (PMC) accounts. If this transfer fee is charged, it will increase the cost of projects that we are implementing for needy Kenyans. This is another area where as a Committee and a House, we need to take time and make sure we think through the framework so that it does not punish Kenyans and instead of increasing revenue collection, it destabilises the economy so that it cannot grow. The other area is with regard to Clauses 2 and 5 which talk about demurrage charges. I want to talk about demurrage charges. This is a charge for inefficiency. It is the amount of money you are charged for the period of time your goods overstay at the port. You are charged for storage. Do we want to reward inefficiency? When the KRA has taken time to assess my imported goods and then they overstay at the port, I am supposed to pay more. There are cases where the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KBS) is not able to assess the quality of the goods and they take their own sweet time then you pay more because the goods have overstayed or where the port inefficiency in terms of handling the cargo takes time and you pay. Do we want to pay? In a case where there are inefficiencies, do we want to charge Kenyans for that? We need to look at this charge so that we come up with very clear timelines in terms of how long the KRA should take to clear goods so that if they take more than that time, they do not blame the customer but take the responsibility for that delay. In that case, if there are any charges, they should be to the KRA and not the customer. It is the same with the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA). If there is mishandling or delayed handling of goods, KPA should be charged and should pay. We are part of an international community. Kenya is a member of the East African Community (EAC). We are also members of the international community. In a situation where we make our own local environment more expensive in terms of cost of production and business transaction, we allow competition in the neighbourhood. I will not be surprised that you can get goods coming from Uganda to Kenya because they are cheaper to produce and the tax rates are lower. Even as we think through some of these charges, it is important that the Departmental Committee on Finance and Planning and the House considers what is happening in the neighbourhood. Tanzania and Uganda have their own tax regimes. Where our tax regime seems to be more unfair to our people, you allow room for those people to import goods to Kenya. Interest capping is a very controversial issue. I remember we passed it but generally, what I would call the best practice - and this is from an economics perspective – is that competition is allowed. I agree that in a situation where banks take advantage of that competition and engage in monopolistic practices, this House must save Kenyans from that kind of practice. 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."
}