{"count":1608389,"next":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=153624","previous":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=153622","results":[{"id":1554422,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1554422/?format=json","text_counter":276,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kwanza, FORD-K","speaker_title":"Hon. Ferdinand Wanyonyi","speaker":null,"content":" Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I am one man who has been here the whole day. I take this opportunity to support this particular Bill. As far as I am concerned, Kenya is one of the most developed areas in the region. Therefore, we should be impressed by that fact. The Mover of the Bill said that over 4000 units of transformers are imported every year. If assembling is done locally, you can imagine how much less each unit would cost. It will also promote local manufacturing skills and job creation. I support this particular Bill because it is very important. I wish it had come here much earlier. You can blame me or any other Member for not coming up with it much earlier. Secondly, our country today is like a supermarket, where things are brought in, and they charge you anything for them. The cost of imported transformers is very high. If they are assembled locally, they will be cheaper. All the parts are not locally available. If we import and assemble them locally, Kenya will not be a supermarket like it is today. A Member mentioned that when you walk out there, as a Member of Parliament, you are told there is no electricity. This is not because they are unable to pay for it, but it is not there. There is also a shortage of supply of transformers. Therefore, this particular Bill is very important. It has come at the right time. Let us pass it so that transformers can be locally manufactured and assembled. This will create more jobs for the technical people we are training today in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, polytechnics and universities with very good electrical knowledge. We have talked about this matter over and over again. Let us not waste any more time. Let us remove the 25 per cent Excise Duty and assemble transformers locally rather than continue making Kenya a supermarket. With those few remarks, I support the particular Bill."},{"id":1554423,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1554423/?format=json","text_counter":277,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Next is Hon. Kawanjiku, the Member for Kiambaa. If we go at that speed, many Members will speak on this Bill. Please proceed."},{"id":1554424,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1554424/?format=json","text_counter":278,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kiambaa, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Njuguna Kawanjiku","speaker":null,"content":" Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to contribute to this important Bill. The issue of transformers and electricity connection is very emotive. We should support anything that will help us increase the capacity of connecting our people to the national grid and lowering the cost of manufacturing. Anything that supports local manufacturing is very important. When we support local manufacturing, we ensure they can employ more people. Therefore, I support it 100 per cent. We must also deal with the people who steal these important components of electricity. We normally connect 10 or 100 transformers per month. However, within the same month, we lose 20 or 30 of them to scrap metal dealers. We must be deliberate in curbing and dealing categorically with people who steal transformers. They are known in this Republic. We saw a case where the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) was able to arrest people who had been stealing transformers. In Kiambu, we realised that the same person who had been stealing 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":1554425,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1554425/?format=json","text_counter":279,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kiambaa, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Njuguna Kawanjiku","speaker":null,"content":"transformers was released by a Court on bond. Now, the same problem has begun to recur. We call out the National Police Service (NPS) to make sure that the people who vandalise transformers are dealt with in totality. We ought to support local manufacturers in one way or another and ensure that they do not compete with international manufacturers. We must protect them because transformers have become expensive for the Government. Therefore, we should support local manufacturers to ensure they are well-equipped so that any international occurrence may not affect their manufacturing. We should support them by all means possible to ensure we have connected our people to the electricity grid and enhance local manufacturers. I support, Hon. Temporary Speaker."},{"id":1554426,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1554426/?format=json","text_counter":280,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Dorothy Ikiara, Nominated Member."},{"id":1554427,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1554427/?format=json","text_counter":281,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Nominated, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Dorothy Muthoni","speaker":null,"content":" Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I also want to weigh in on this important debate and thank the Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, Hon. Kimani Francis Kuria, for bringing this important Bill to this House, the Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill. It goes without saying that if we support our local manufacturers, it will go a long way in ensuring that our transformative agenda for the youth is completely settled. We should encourage local assembly of transformers. This is very important because we have issues across the country where about a quarter or even one-half of this country is not connected to the grid. If the electricity supply is consistent in the entire country, the youth will have the opportunity to work in the villages doing welding and operating hair salons. That will support them in their daily endeavours because we cannot employ everyone in urban areas. Besides manufacturing the transformers locally, we need to go a step further and ensure that we reduce duty on cables, wires, and stay wires accompanying connectivity. We also have the opportunity to reduce excise duty on cross-arms and stay rods that help in electricity connectivity. However, much as we talk about assembling transformers, what we should currently fight more is economic crimes because we have transformers across the country. However, every now and then, we hear they have been vandalised. Unless we deal with this crime, we will only be fighting to increase the number of transformers. However, there will be other people behind us vandalising and sabotaging the economy of this country. For any progressive country to grow successfully, we must support local manufacturing. I laud this very important move. We should have done it a year or even 10 years ago so that this country could grow and spur its economic growth. Quality assurance is equally very key. We might start manufacturing transformers but end up doing substandard ones if we do not apply quality assurance. I am sure this matter will arise when we pass this important Bill. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I support this Bill. This is the way to go as a country. Thank you."},{"id":1554428,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1554428/?format=json","text_counter":282,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Thuku Kwenya, Member for Kinangop."},{"id":1554429,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1554429/?format=json","text_counter":283,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kinangop, JP","speaker_title":"Hon. Thuku Kwenya","speaker":{"id":13380,"legal_name":"Zachary Kwenya Thuku","slug":"zachary-kwenya-thuku"},"content":" Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. In a very special way, I want to support this Bill. However, even as we support, it is both a win and a loss in the sense that once we amend this law as it is... We passed it last year in the Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 2024. I realise that transformers, whether fully assembled or their parts, share the same Harmonised System (HS) code. Therefore, it means that as much as we want to protect local manufacturing, we are giving them an unequal opportunity with importers. That being the case, I thought that the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning would have done a better job by separating the two codes: one 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":1554430,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1554430/?format=json","text_counter":284,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kinangop, JP","speaker_title":"Hon. Thuku Kwenya","speaker":{"id":13380,"legal_name":"Zachary Kwenya Thuku","slug":"zachary-kwenya-thuku"},"content":"for fully assembled transformers and the other for parts. This is so that we are exempt from duty on imported parts but still impose a duty on fully assembled transformers. By so doing, we will be promoting local manufacturing. That component of the assembly would mean some jobs for some young people in this country. Although this is a misstep we made when we passed the same in the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, we should go further by introducing a new HS code for imported parts so that we cure this Bill and still win in terms of raising revenue and discouraging importation of fully assembled transformers. The issue of electricity in this country is quite a big one, especially in Kinangop Constituency, which I represent. The level of connectivity is slightly above 50 per cent. If we want to achieve 100 per cent connectivity, a lot needs to be done by this House. We should especially call out Kenya Power and Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC) so that we do not have slacks and delays where once a project is done, by the time one agency is transferring it to the next, there are long and many delays. The delays are either because Kenya Power has an issue with how the design was done or because they do not have connecting meters. Sometimes, it is because Kenya Power Company or REREC did not submit wayleave certificates. We need to have some harmony so that even as we look at costing, we do not lose money in a situation where the Government invests its money in a project which is not commissioned and, therefore, returns delay. Kenya Power Company and REREC should work like businesspeople where, once you invest, you follow through to see that you start earning from your investment. These are the delays that we are experiencing. Going forward, as Members of Parliament, we need not just to pass good laws here but also call out the implementing agencies so that they do what they are supposed to do within the stipulated time. With that, I have passed my point across and want to be generous with my time. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker."},{"id":1554431,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1554431/?format=json","text_counter":285,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Thank you very much. Hon. Peter Kaluma, Member for Homa Bay Town."}]}