By Peter Ochieng
National Assembly Speaker, Moses Wetang’ula on Wednesday morning okayed debate on the Finance Bill, 2024.
Wetang’ula allowed commencement of the debate on a report of the departmental committee on finance and national planning on the Bill, as he overruled a point of order raised by Seme MP James Nyikal.
The MP had sought the speaker’s intervention over alleged premature participation of the Executive on the Bill.
The opposition legislature had cited the participation of Members of the Majority Party Coalition, including the Chairperson of the Finance and National Planning Committee, Kuria Kimani in a Parliamentary Group meeting at Statehouse on Tuesday, where the Bill was discussed before tabling of the report on the same.
The Speaker however noted that he had read the entire report and it did not make any refence to said meeting, adding that caucusing among legislators was legal and healthy for democracy.
The Kimani Kuria-led committee has made a raft of recommendations on the Finance Bill, 2024, which if endorsed by the House will see local manufacturers protected from cheap imports, while preserving the existing jobs both in the formal and informal sector.
Among these is the recommendation that Eco Levy be applied only on imported finished products, thereby exempting locally manufactured products.
Promoting local assembly and manufacturing of goods, the committee says will help boost Kenya’s manufacturing capacity, create jobs and save foreign exchange.
Among the Committee’s decisions towards this end, is the proposal to retain locally manufactured goods and imported raw materials under the zero-rate schedule of the Value Added Tax (VAT).
The committee has proposed to zero-rate ordinary bread, unleavened bread, gluten bread, inputs and raw materials supplied to manufacturers of agricultural and pest control products, agricultural pest control products, transportation of sugarcane from farms to milling factories, supply of locally assembled and manufacture of mobile phones, among others.
Further, the committee has proposed exempting several products from VAT, including the issuing of credit and debit cards, foreign exchange transactions, sanitary towels and diapers, and services of local film agents.
If the report is adopted by the House, Eco Levy will also not apply to tyres for bicycles, tuktuks, wheelchairs and motorcycles.
The recommendations were partly informed by concerns raised by stakeholders during the two-week public participation exercise conducted on the Bill.
Debate on the Bill commenced this morning, with its passage expected before end of this month.