{"count":1608389,"next":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=147999","previous":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=147997","results":[{"id":1498172,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498172/?format=json","text_counter":332,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kikuyu, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah","speaker":null,"content":"The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."},{"id":1498173,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498173/?format=json","text_counter":333,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kikuyu, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah","speaker":null,"content":"variation or waiver on revenue collection and the likely economic impact of the variation or waiver. The Cabinet Secretary in charge of the National Treasury could even waive taxes, levies or licensing fees under the old Constitution before 2010. Even the Cabinet Secretary lost that power under the new Constitution. Indeed, it is only this House that has the power to waive or even impose taxes. That is why Clause 5 of this Bill has provisions that relate to waivers and variations. Again, it is to guard against abuse of processes. You may find chief officers, chief finance officers, county executive committee members or even people in our National Treasury varying and waiving fees, penalties and interests. Without anticipating debate, that is why you find one of the Bills, namely, the Tax Procedures Bill, currently undergoing public participation after being read for a First Time last week, has a particular provision dealing with tax amnesty. As I said, it is only through Parliament that you can waive penalties or interest on tax arrears that the public owes the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) or other Government agencies. I look forward to the Second Reading of the Tax Procedures Bill when it comes up for debate. I know many Kenyans are owed tens of billions of shillings across the country, especially members of the public who did business with many of our county governments. They cannot be paid and yet, KRA is on their necks demanding taxes, and imposing penalties and interests, on what they are owed simply because they invoiced. They were supposed to pay taxes against those invoices. However, those invoices are yet to be settled by the Government agencies or even county governments. Therefore, KRA continues to impose penalties over penalties. As I said, we seek to help those people through some provisions in the Tax Procedures Bill and the tax laws that will be coming before this House. That is what I am saying, without anticipating debate. I am just trying to move quickly. Clause 8 of the Bill contains very critical provisions for the Cabinet Secretary to establish and compose the Inter-agency Transitional Committee to review all fees and charges that are imposed by county governments prior to the commencement of the Act. The Bill proposes a five-member committee consisting of representatives from the National Treasury, the Commission on Revenue Allocation, the Inter- governmental Relations Technical Committee and the KRA. The committee's role shall be to review taxes, charges and fees that are imposed by a concerned county. Again, I appreciate that Parliament may have delayed enacting legislation that would create the process we are seeking to create to regulate how we impose taxes at both levels of government. As I was giving examples, it may happen that there are county governments across the country that may have imposed certain levies, fees and taxes that may jeopardise our national interests. To cure that for those that may have been imposed ahead of the enactment of this Bill, we are saying that we will create an Inter-agency Transitional Committee to be appointed by the Cabinet Secretary. We will have representation from the agencies and institutions that I have mentioned. They include the Inter-governmental Technical Relations Committee to review all those that had been done before to make sure they align with the greater national goals and interests. In summary, let me not belabour this point because this is a very self-explanatory Bill. The Bill is very important. I urge all Members to support it. I know it concerns our county governments. Therefore, it will be going to the other House. Even as the Bill finds its way to the other House, I expect them to pass it in the greater interest of both our counties and the national Government, so that we can create that complementary role of the two levels of government, not only to impose taxes, but also to ensure that the taxes imposed at the national Government level are not duplicated at the local level through the imposition of taxes, levies and fees by our county governments. Equally, so that certain fees, levies and licenses our county governments are imposing at the county level are not duplicated when we pass our tax and finance laws. This is to avoid elements of double taxation."},{"id":1498174,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498174/?format=json","text_counter":334,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kikuyu, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah","speaker":null,"content":"The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."},{"id":1498175,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498175/?format=json","text_counter":335,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kikuyu, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah","speaker":null,"content":"As I said and in conclusion, the Bill gives effect to Article 209(5) of our Constitution. This is to ensure that taxation and other revenue powers of a county shall not be exercised in a way that prejudices national economic policies, the economic activities across our regions in the country and the boundaries in our region outside the country do not in any way inhibit national mobility of goods, services, capital or even labour. Counties can even impose fees that limit how people move. In some counties, you may lack labourers who do certain chores probably because of cultural reasons. People from one county may not do certain chores unless through the labour mobility of moving people from other counties. You may even find counties imposing restrictions on how people move. We want to ensure that there is national mobility of labour and capital. There must be mobility of capital for all our counties to prosper and grow. There must be mobility of goods, services and labour. That is why some of us never believed in the politics of dividing our country along regional, ethnic or county boundaries. For instance, we believe that the people of Kilifi need the people of Kericho to feed them. Probably, the people of Kericho need the people of Kilifi moving their capital from the Coast to invest in Kericho and grow food that can get back to feed their people in Kilifi. We are speaking to those issues in this Bill. We should grow our country by allowing free mobility of goods and services, and capital and labour so that Kenyans from across all corners of our country can feel free to go and invest anywhere. The beautiful beaches along the shores of Lake Victoria impressed me during my last visit to Hon. Bensuda's Homa Bay County. I was impressed that the people of Homa Bay are very aggressive in fishing. However, I noticed there is a deficiency in tourist resorts along the beaches of Lake Victoria. I imagined the days I had some money and I would have been a very good close friend of Hon. Bensuda to make sure she gives me part of her assets near the lake to invest in tourist-class holiday resorts."},{"id":1498176,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498176/?format=json","text_counter":336,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Laughter)"},{"id":1498177,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498177/?format=json","text_counter":337,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kikuyu, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah","speaker":null,"content":"Hon. Temporary Speaker, I am using Hon. Bensuda because I know how passionate she is about attracting capital to Homa Bay County. She wants to provide employment opportunities to her young men and women. I had an evening with Hon. Bensuda and Governor Gladys Wanga after the investment conference in Homa Bay County. Those two gracious and great ladies from Homa Bay County are doing great things. Probably, governors should first pass through the National Assembly and hopefully chair the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning like Governor Wanga. Governor Gladys Wanga is doing much besides growing her own-source revenue. Governor Wanga is a former Chair of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning. She is also the former County Woman Representative of Homa Bay County. But because of her experience in the National Assembly, especially as the Chairlady of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, she has managed to move her own-source-revenue by leaps and bounds in a period of less than two years. I take this opportunity to commend Governor Wanga because she is not raising own-source-revenue in a way that jeopardises our national interest, but one that promotes national interest and encourages labour and capital mobility out of other places into Homa Bay County. I thank God that she has the support of very great and gracious Members of Parliament from Homa Bay County. I was impressed by the manner in which the leaders in Homa Bay County exhibited co-operation during the Homa Bay Investors Conference that we all attended. I am using that county as an example because the kind of co-operation I saw touched my heart and being. The event was televised across the country for other governors to see and learn that if they work"},{"id":1498178,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498178/?format=json","text_counter":338,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kikuyu, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah","speaker":null,"content":"The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."},{"id":1498179,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498179/?format=json","text_counter":339,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kikuyu, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah","speaker":null,"content":"with their Members of Parliament, County Woman Representatives and members of county assemblies (MCAs), then it is only for the benefit of the people who voted for them. I encourage all governors to work with their Members of Parliament. I know there are those who are interested in running for county government seats. I have always said that I will never run for any county government seat. Therefore, my governor can rest assured that I will never run for that seat. But, please, do not fear. I know our governor fears the Member for Thika Town because she portends the potential to be another ‘Gladys Wanga’ in Kiambu."},{"id":1498180,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498180/?format=json","text_counter":340,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Applause)"},{"id":1498181,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498181/?format=json","text_counter":341,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kikuyu, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah","speaker":null,"content":"I have also said without fear of contradiction that I believe in the power of women leaders because they are doing great things as governors. It is not just Governor Wanga, because even my party Chairlady, Governor Cecily Mbarire, is also doing great things in Embu, even with sabotage from a few of us. It may not be everybody who is doing well, and I do not have that latitude to determine. I am not here on a praise and worship session for governors, but I encourage them to work with other leaders and MCAs even as we actualise the provisions of this Bill. They need to use it to encourage not just the co-operation of other leaders, but also of their neighbouring counties and other counties at large. I look forward to the day the governors of Wajir and Marsabit counties will work with the governors of Kiambu, Nyeri and Kericho counties to ensure that things that are not available in their counties are exchanged. There should also be free mobility of labour and capital so that even those of us who come from crowded counties like Kiambu, Kisii and Nyamira, where Hon. Irene Mayaka comes from, will feel free to go and invest in Marsabit, Turkana or Wajir counties. I must commend our brothers and sisters from the far north who are investing across the country. That is the kind of country we all yearn for. I pray that with the enactment of this Bill, and with the support of Members of the National Assembly and the Senators, we shall create better revenue raising measures for our county governments. We should establish measures that do not jeopardise our national interests, but those that encourage not just inter- county trade and mobility of both capital and labour, but also promote business, trade and the prosperity of all of our counties and the nation at large. Hon. Temporary Speaker, with those many remarks, I beg to move and request my very able deputy to second. When I say, ‘my very able deputy’, Member for Kilifi North, Hon. Owen Baya, I mean it. He is ‘my very able deputy’. He cannot even be impeached because he is very able. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker."}]}