19 Jan 2011 in National Assembly:
Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would be happy to deal with this Question by Tuesday next week.
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8 Dec 2010 in National Assembly:
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply. (a) I am not aware that the Municipal Council of Kisumu has effected any increase in fees and licences and introduced new ones to cover diverse activities including hawking, bicycle and motorcycle transport, bus park entry for passenger vehicles and levies on various transporters of building materials, manufactured items and fish. However, the Municipal Council of Kisumu raised its fees and charges in 2007 which I approved and was published in the Kenya Gazette Legal Notice No.4999 of 15th May, 2009. I am not aware nor have I approved any other charges by ...
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8 Dec 2010 in National Assembly:
(c) There is currently no court order operating against the council on the fees and charges that has been brought to my attention.
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8 Dec 2010 in National Assembly:
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have said that the legal fees that I am aware of and which I granted approval are set out in the Kenya Gazette, Legal Notice No.4999 of 15th May, 2009. I have not as of to date, given any other legal notice. If, indeed, there are any charges that are being levied outside the Legal Notice, they would be illegal and the council will be directed forthwith to stop collecting fees that are not gazetted.
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8 Dec 2010 in National Assembly:
Mr. Speaker, Sir, that is a very difficult question because it depends on the nature of collection of such illegal fees. You will bear with me that it will be very difficult to track down, maybe, Boda Boda individuals and refund this kind of money. However, I would like to give the undertaking that the legal fees that ought to be charged are those that are gazetted. If, indeed, any Council – not just Kisumu Municipal Council – is collecting fees that have not been gazetted, then it is involved in an act of illegality. In the absence of refund ...
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8 Dec 2010 in National Assembly:
Mr. Speaker, Sir, we will look into this case very carefully and where we find that there has been a transgression of the law, then that person will have to be disciplined. This will be a case of an individual who does not follow the stipulated law.
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8 Dec 2010 in National Assembly:
Mr. Speaker, Sir, as it stands now, the only mechanism that is in the hands of the Government for ensuring what can be charged is properly documented as legal is the Kenya Gazette. We have no other mechanism. However, we also instruct the respective councils to make sure that they publicize the gazette notice that has been approved so that the stakeholders in a given area would be very clear. So, it would be an act of dishonesty if, indeed, people are not publicizing what has been properly gazetted.
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8 Dec 2010 in National Assembly:
Mr. Speaker, Sir, by the time approval is sought from the Minister, the respective local authorities should show that there has been stakeholders’ consultation and a process has been followed to arrive at the fees. The records that were brought for approval indicated that they had undertaken stakeholders’ consultations at that time. The hon. Member is also asking whether these revenues are being raised to cater for the allowances of the councilors. The answer is both “Yes” and “No”. It is “No” because when the council raises its revenue, it is supposed to make sure that it is within the ...
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8 Dec 2010 in National Assembly:
Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, before I reply, I would like to apologize for not giving the hon. Member the written reply earlier. Now that he has a copy of it, I hope he accepts my apology. I beg to reply.
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8 Dec 2010 in National Assembly:
Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, indeed, the hon. Member is raising a very valid point. I must say that it is not easy to harmonize what you call Boda Boda charges. However, we have been trying all along to make sure that these are standardized across all local authorities. But above that, one of the long term issues that we want to do is that as we look at the elements of devolution under the new structure, we want to reduce the number of local authorities because this will come naturally. This will help in mitigating some of these charges. In ...
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