Billow Kerrow

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 1151 to 1160 of 1385.

• 19 Sep 2007 in National Assembly: application, the Commissioner of Tax, or the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), can actually freeze the bank accounts of people who are suspected of not having paid taxes, or people who are suspected of having made taxable supplies on which tax has not been charged, or people who have collected taxes but may not have remitted it. I think the power to freeze the accounts of individual taxpayers merely on the basis of the reasonable assumption of a Commissioner of tax, or the KRA, before assessments are issued, is tantamount to an abuse of law. The current legal provisions are such ... view
• 19 Sep 2007 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, what I am trying to say is that the amendments that the Minister is trying to bring through this Bill, in principle, are trying to give the Government, through the Cabinet or the Minister, powers to determine the monetary policy of the CBK. That is the concern that we have. I think we should leave the CBK independent. We have succeeded in the last few years when the CBK has retained independence and the Governor has had security of tenure, and the Government has, therefore, not had its hand in the till. Let us leave ... view
• 29 Aug 2007 in National Assembly: Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I will spend my time more on foreign relations as opposed to the emphasis on foreign affairs. I want to specifically spend more time discussing the USA, Israel relations and our policy on Somalia. Before I do so, I would like to say that the Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs talked about the way our positive image locally helps our foreign relations abroad. In the same breath, it also goes that the negative image or perceptions in the country affect our relations with countries outside. In this regard, I think it is ... view
• 29 Aug 2007 in National Assembly: Do you know that I only have five minutes? view
• 29 Aug 2007 in National Assembly: Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. It is not up to him to determine whether I am out of order or not. Our foreign policy has been good. But what has happened in the last few months, particularly with regard to Somalia where we literally handed over our foreign policy to the US Ambassador giving instructions day in, day out in this country, with regard to what our relationship with Somalia should be, was not acceptable. The number of people being deported, and this Minister was happy--- view
• 29 Aug 2007 in National Assembly: Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. Our Minister who spoke earlier on, talked about the good work they have done with regard to security and also talked about deportation. Deportation is not a good thing for us as a nation. We have our own judiciary. Our Judiciary is not under the control of any other country. It should not be under the control of any other country! We have, as we speak, not less than 18 Kenyans, of all tribes, who today are languishing in jails in Ethiopia, America and other countries because of our failure to prosecute people ... view
• 16 Aug 2007 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you heard the Assistant Minister say that the officer was actually demoted. For an officer to be demoted, in the first instance, before he or she is re- deployed, there must have been some confirmation by the Ministry of some irregularity or something that he or she did, and which led to his or her demotion. What exactly did that officer do that led to her demotion before the re-deployment? Ongoing reforms are not a reason to demote and re-deploy officers. What action was she involved in that led to her demotion? view
• 16 Aug 2007 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you heard the Minister say that he was in charge of the National Disaster Response Centre up to last year and that this year it was transferred to the docket of National Administration and Internal Security. The docket of National Adminstration and Internal Security is notorious for taking over departments whenever there is money involved. Could the Minister confirm that, that transfer was done because the US Government was in the process of giving up to US$50 million to the National Disaster Response Centre last year and that is the reason which led to that unit ... view
• 16 Aug 2007 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you heard the Government side very clearly expressing the very pitiful differences between them. You see the picture of a Government that is in total disarray, a Government that wants to run home. They want to run home, so that they can go and hide. This Government should know that there is only one thing they can do if they are tired and unable to move forward. That thing is for them to honourably hand over the reigns of power to the alternative government. view
• 16 Aug 2007 in National Assembly: It is not appropriate for the Government to stand up here and tell us that "we are tired!" when, indeed, the agenda, or the business, which was set out by the Leader of Government Business has not been completed. Over 30 Bills were listed in the Budget Speech, yet this Government says that we have no business and we are tired. We have not seen even 10 per cent of those Bills tabled in this House. What is the Government then talking about? For example, the Fiscal Management Bill is a very important one that we have been pushing for. ... view