Abshiro Soka Halake

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 1471 to 1480 of 1750.

• 25 Nov 2018 in Senate: Madam Temporary Speaker, I do not know what it is. However, I am trying--- view
• 25 Nov 2018 in Senate: On a point of order, Madam Temporary Speaker. Is it in order for the Senate Majority Leader to bring in something that was not in this Statement? I do not know at what point Members of County Assembly (MCAs) were mentioned. Is he in order? All the Statement is saying is that the recurrent expenditure ceilings were increased. Therefore, there are undesired consequences. At what point did the Statement that I have here mention MCAs or accuse anybody? view
• 25 Nov 2018 in Senate: Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to second this Motion by our Majority Whip, that this House adjourns. Madam Temporary Speaker, as Sen. Kihika has mentioned, this is one of our calendar items of the Senate. As she rightfully said, Senators have a lot of issues that they need to resolve while they are on this recess. As you know, the Senate has been on a blitz of committee work, including view
• 25 Nov 2018 in Senate: committees. In fact, for the few days we will be away, this will be a working recess. Many of our committees have actually scheduled county visits and hearing of petitions in the committees. Therefore, in as much as this is going to be a working recess, it is important that we also take a break to look at these other things. It has been a very intense few weeks for Senators, I believe from August. Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I beg to second. view
• 22 Nov 2018 in Senate: Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion- THAT, WHEREAS menstrual health management among women and girls in Kenya has been a major issue particularly for the low income earners with about 65 per cent of women and girls in the country who can barely afford sanitary towels each month; AWARE that many girls and women are severely affected during menstrual cycle and are not able to consistently attend and concentrate in class and school work leading to poor performance; FURTHER AWARE that if not handled appropriately, menstruation can cause infections of the urinary tract and pelvic inflammatory ... view
• 22 Nov 2018 in Senate: (a) Prioritises gender sensitive budgeting as a way of addressing issues affecting women and girls; specifically menstrual health matters. (b) Initiates measures to ensure zero rating of duty on raw materials used for locally manufactured sanitary towels and zero rating Value Added Tax (VAT) on locally manufactured sanitary towels, to ensure affordability for the many poor households in Kenya; and (c) Advance further tax incentives to manufacturers for cheaper production of sanitary towels. view
• 22 Nov 2018 in Senate: Madam Temporary Speaker, please allow me to elaborate a little bit on this issue. In our country, I realised local production of sanitary towels is taxed alongside luxury items. view
• 22 Nov 2018 in Senate: Allow me to elaborate a little bit on what is called International Tampon Tax which is the umbrella term that describes the value added sales tax and other duties that are usually levied on luxury items that is then imposed on sanitary pads. Classifying menstrual hygiene products as luxury items is infringing on the rights of girls and women in this country. It also goes to show how our tax systems are punitive to women. How is it that something that happens involuntarily, a biological function of a woman‟s body, is classified alongside other luxury items whereby it is taxed? view
• 22 Nov 2018 in Senate: Please, allow me to now enumerate some of the taxes that are levied on menstrual hygiene products that are locally produced. There is something called perforated film which is what covers the cotton that goes in to the pads. The Harmonised System (HS) code or taxation code is 39211990. It attracts a duty of 25 per cent. Perforated PV top sheet again attracts duty of 25 per cent; non-woven type of pads, HS code 560391 attracts duty of 10 per cent; non-woven top sheets HS code 560311, attracts duty of 10 per cent. Siliconated paper HS code 4811990 attracts duty ... view
• 22 Nov 2018 in Senate: Some luxury items do not even attract that much. How is it that sanitary pads that are locally produced attract 25 per cent of duty on all the input material and 10 per cent for the cheapest material? This is a very unfair taxation regime. It goes to show how punitive it is to women. Tax regime needs to change for women to access these things locally. view