Dr. James Nyikal

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 3081 to 3090 of 3161.

• 19 Sep 2013 in National Assembly: I think that will improve participation. One particular clause which I am concerned with and want to say something about is that one on the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA). I think this is something that we must take up very seriously. The issue of retirement benefits is a major issue. Many people in this country work for the length of their working life and end up without any benefits they can live on. Therefore, the establishment of a RBA was a good thing and we should regulate it better so that the numerous institutions that will come into place can ... view
• 19 Sep 2013 in National Assembly: Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, we are aware that one of the reasons that we are increasing taxes is so that we can take care of the old persons. If you look at it, many of these people were working starting with Members of Parliament. I know there is an effort to get a Bill to look at the retirement of old Members of Parliament. I know that somebody is working on a Bill to look at war and military veterans. I know that we are looking at many areas for people who have worked. So, I think we should look ... view
• 19 Sep 2013 in National Assembly: The other area I would like to talk about is the regulation of banks and the Banking Act. Again, we should make it possible for people to get agencies where they can bank easily and strengthen the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) so that the deposits are protected as we discussed yesterday. But one thing that I really want to bring out here is that I do not understand and many economies and finance people have tried to convince me, I do not see why our interest rates are so high in banks. You put money in the bank at ... view
• 19 Sep 2013 in National Assembly: Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am a big business person but I do not know any business where you are going to make an interest or a profit of 30 per cent. If the bank itself is taking 20 per cent of the money you borrowed - my friend, you are the finance people – where is the profit that will cover that interest? Basically you cannot do any business! People who can try business just give up. So, I think banks are killing us. I do not even understand why when you deposit cash in the bank, you ... view
• 19 Sep 2013 in National Assembly: For 100 years, we have not built one foot of railway line. At the time of Independence, the railway was the richest institution in this country. In fact, the railways corporation had more property than the Government. Now it is dilapidated. Look at our roads; we cannot maintain our highways because of the huge trucks on the roads. You even do not want to travel on the roads because of the tankers which do not care because of their size. If you look at the roads, they get destroyed quickly. I think that is something that we need to do ... view
• 19 Sep 2013 in National Assembly: Lastly, on the issue of VAT, I think we should not touch VAT because of the hue and cry that has come out. Whereas, I will support sports for the youth and for our economy, I think VAT is very sensitive now. I wondered why, after we had passed the VAT, we are coming again with another thing on VAT. This area demonstrates the need to have explanatory note. I think many of us did not quite understand the difference between being exempt and being zero-rated. So, when we are passing certain things, we believed we were actually supporting Kenyans ... view
• 19 Sep 2013 in National Assembly: So, with that those remarks, I support. view
• 18 Sep 2013 in National Assembly: Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this Bill in a rather quiet and conducive environment, devoid of our partisan noise that sometimes make it impossible to look at your friend’s face and know whether he is the same person you were taking tea with a few minutes earlier. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Kenya is at a cross-road. As a nation, we are at the verge of taking off in money economy and entrepreneurship. For the last 30 years or so, many Kenyans in the rural areas have not been ... view
• 18 Sep 2013 in National Assembly: Fund. This is very good. We cannot hope that all the monies that people can borrow and start business with will come from the Exchequer. Saving must be the basis of economic growth. Adequate savings will definitely spur economic growth by encouraging and facilitating entrepreneurs to access funds and start businesses, which will help to reduce unemployment in our country. Again, we need the savings so that our youth and women can have a place from which to borrow so that they can get into the money economy as they wish to do. I am not an economist but I ... view
• 18 Sep 2013 in National Assembly: heart to protect them, and if we believe in corruption, they cannot work. All the same, this is a good Bill whose passage will protect our people. As I said, somebody has to make me understand why the bank interest rates in this country are so high. Maybe, we have to re-look at the Donde Bill. I followed the Donde Bill debate. With my little economic background, I am convinced that the Donde Bill was sabotaged by people who want to keep us in perpetual poverty. Therefore, as we get this Bill through, let us look at the interest rates ... view