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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this Motion. As I support the Motion, I am well aware that in this Report that I have read, a total of 369 Kenyans appeared before the Tribunal to make presentations. I have found that out of these 369 Kenyans, 295 of them made oral submissions; 70 of them made written submissions and four of them presented questionnaires. That this Tribunal has finally made this Report, that we are supporting, is a move towards restoring honor to the profession of politics. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, in this country, whenever a newspaper carries a story about the income of hon. Members, an innocent hon. Member who thought that by coming to this House, he would be adding value to social justice to this country, feels ashamed of being a politician. We would like it to be very clear now to our political competitors, to our dependants and to all other people who care to be interested to know that what an hon. Member earns is x, so that it is no longer shrouded in mystery, and it is clearly understood that the decision to award particular earnings was not that of an hon. Member, but of a professional body. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to support this Motion because now it is clear that whereas currently we have been paying 23.5 per cent of our income as tax, we have raised this, or rather the Commission has raised this to 71.1 per cent of our income; we now go towards taxation. I believe that hon. Members, some of whom are currently sitting, and who have been shouting loudest that we have started paying tax will now realize that all of us have legally moved from 23.5 per cent to 71.1 per cent. I would like the whole country to know that the 71.1 per cent that we are talking about is actually equivalent to Kshs227, 861 that every hon. Member will be paying monthly. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I would like to support this Report because I find that in computing taxation, the Commission has been very careful and elaborate enough to establish what aspects of our income will be taxable and what are not taxable. That the entire basic salary will be taxed is very welcome. The Commission has gone further and also imposed taxes on allowances. This is something that was attracting a lot of negative publicity. Now, allowances of hon. Members will be taxed. I am glad that in the process of taxing our allowances, the Commission also found wisdom in knowing that there are certain allowances which it is not practical to tax. That is why the Commission has said that we will have tax of extraneous allowances, entertainment allowances, responsibility and transport allowances; they will all be taxed. However, they have been kind and pragmatic enough to appreciate that there is no way you will tax house allowance, because some of the hon. Members at the time when they win their seats, they happen to have been living and working in places like Pokot; probably some of them are coming to Nairobi for the first time. Therefore, if you do not give them a good house allowance, they will be unable to settle down. They have also exempted from taxation car maintenance. I would also like the public to know that hon. Members will be earning tax free, a car maintenance allowance of Kshs95, 000 if this report goes through. This Kshs95,000 is nothing compared to what it costs to replace, within a very short time, the entire suspension system of your car when you go home on a weekly basis. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, finally, the constituency allowance has also been exempted from taxation. This should be able to cushion hon. Members from whatever inconveniences and uncertainties that they undergo in the constituencies. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, as I support this, I would like the taxman to think beyond the politicians. I would like the tax net to be extended further so that it can cover all and sundry, and so that most Kenyans, if not all of them, can pay tax. I have in mind certain people in this country who, currently, enjoy tax holidays, and nobody talks about it. We have the leaders of trade unions. The money that they make is not taxed; it is important that the taxman should have a clear relook at them and see whether they cannot pay taxes or pay more than whatever they are paying. Then, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, with all due respect to the churches, there are some of our churches that make a lot of money from their collections locally and internationally. Probably, this is the time for the taxman to consider having a critical look at the income of some of the churches, so that they can also contribute towards the tax kitty. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I sit, in support of this Motion, I would like to urge all Members to make time, even if it is just 30 seconds, to add their voice on this so that none of us pulls on us a fast one like what we found after we unanimously passed the Motion that brought in the referendum. After all of us had supported it, some of us who had been quietly sitting on the benches have ended up going to the countryside and telling people that they never supported. So if you do not want to support, you better add your voice so that you are heard and seen by all and sundry. It should be on the HANSARD. We do not want the culture of ambiguity to persist in this country. With those few remarks, I support."
}