Coast Chapter
The Mombasa County finance act 2013 that was passed into law in December 2013 has elicited a lot of reactions from various business stakeholders in the County.
Prior to passing of the bill there were various consultative forums that were held with the County Executive to discuss various tax streams that had been proposed by the County Government raising a lot of queries from stakeholders.
KAM’s policy of embracing dialogue necessitated the calling of a special meeting between the chapter committee and the County Executive in charge of Finance Mr. Walid Khalid.
Speaking during the meeting Walid commended KAM for embracing dialogue as opposed to confrontation. “I am very impressed by KAM’s approach to doing business with the County Government. There is no need to be combative and political when we can have dialogue,” said Walid.
The chapter Chairman Munir Thabit, reiterated that KAM was for dialogue and peaceful resolution of issues through tabling of facts. “KAM’s approach is to use dialogue and advocate for members through facts based advocacy,” he said.
During the meeting it was agreed that since the act is now law, member’s views should be sought consolidated and sent to the Finance department to seek for an amendment to the Act. It was also agreed that, a validation meeting will be held soon to discuss the forwarded proposals.
Members present discussed on the entry fee that had been introduced at the barrier points and mentioned this will increase the cost of doing business
“Who will be able to afford manufactured goods if each and every County decides to charge for goods coming to the county?” wondered Jinal Shah KAM Coast chapter Vice Chair.
Members were unanimous that the entry fee was subject to Entry to Kongowea market and should remain so.