PRESIDENT RUTO SIGN SECRET INCOME TAX BILL INTO LAW AMIDST FINANCE BILL KICK BACKS, STATE HOUSE

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]Excellency sir, you may kindly take your seat.

[00:00:05]Your excellency the president, your excellency the deputy president, the attorney general and all cabinet secretaries present, the leadership of parliament as led by the speaker of the national assembly, principal secretary present, honored guests, distinguished ladies and gentlemen.

[00:00:24]Good morning and welcome to the seventh presidential ascent ceremony of the year 2026.

[00:00:30]Your excellency s this state ceremony is convened pursuant to article 115 of the constitution for the presidential ascent of the three parliamentary bills.

[00:00:41]The first bill that will be transmitted for ascent is the income tax amendment bill national assembly bill number 20 of 2026.

[00:00:51]The bill seeks to rationalize the administration of capital gains tax in order to align the tax regime with international best practices and recognized principles of taxation while reinforcing the gains made in advancing the ease of doing business in Kenya.

[00:01:09]The second bill lined up for your excellenc's presidential ascent is the special economic zones amendment bill national assembly bill number eight of 2026.

[00:01:20]The bill seeks to enhance the nation's competitiveness by expanding the scope of special economic zones to include oil and gas zones and to harmonize the tax incentives applicable to entities undertaking activities within such zones.

[00:01:37]In addition, the bill further fortifies the special economic zones framework with the operational realities of large scale capital investments through the provision of a minimum license tenure of 10 years subject to annual compliance audits thereby accommodating the long project cycles and substantial capital commitments characteristic of petroleum operations.

[00:02:03]To crown this ceremony, your excellency will be presented with the technopololis bill national assembly bill number six of 2024.

[00:02:13]The principal object of the bill is to establish a comprehensive legal framework for the creation, development and governance of technopolies in Kenya.

[00:02:23]Through this frame, this legislative framework, the bill seeks to position Kenya as a leading destination for technology-driven enterprise and innovation by establishing integrated one-stop hubs for the efficient delivery of government services thereby fostering a modern and enabling environment capable of attracting global investment, talent and innovation.

[00:02:48]Your Excellency sir, with both houses of parliament having discharged their law makingaking mandate in enacting these three pieces of legislation, it is now my most humble duty to petition your excellency as head of state and government to exercise the authority conferred upon you under article 115 of the constitution and ascent these bills into law. Your Excellency sir, with your kind permission, I now invite the clerk of the of the National Assembly to present the valum copies of the bills for your consideration and asent.

[00:03:34]Your Excellency, I am under the instructions of the speaker of the National Assembly to place before you.

[00:03:42]>> Good morning.

[00:03:42]>> Good morning, your excellency.

[00:03:48]Um, and instructions to place before you these three veums being the 10th day of May the year 2026.

[00:03:58]The first one, your excellency, is a bill that was introduced by the distinguished member for MOO, the honorable Kimmani Kura, uh called the income tax amendment bill.

[00:04:08]The bill proposes to amend the income tax law to facilitate companies to internal reorganization.

[00:04:17]Uh it's one of bills for purposes of ease of administration of tax and ease of doing business in the Republic of Kenya. It's a small bill your excellency on the three clauses the commencement of upon publication in the gazette.

[00:04:42]The committee undertook extensive public participation. was a committee departmental committee on finance by the member for and the county woman for Mandera in today's session and they the committee and the house amended the bill excellency the second bill is a special economic zones bill of the year 2026.

[00:05:23]It will be recalled your excellency that towards the end of last year we received as parliament a sessional paper facilitating the exploration of oil in south rock in that session of paper your excellency was adopted by both houses after extensive Uh your excellency when the two houses of parliament were adopting that session of paper there was a resolution that for the sessional paper and the implementation of the decision of the house to have business sense there are certain laws that needs to be amended amended so as to attract investors at the Rockicha basin particularly in block T6 and T7.

[00:06:28]In that regard, your excellency party introduced the special economic zones amendment bill 2026 proposing to amend the SEZ act as we know it, the income tax act, the miscellaneous fees and levies act.

[00:06:49]The idea your excellency is to give certain in the upstream exploration of oil but those who also pipeline your excellency publication the relevant ministry that's the minister of trade together with the ministry of energy petitioned parliament the licensing of our SEZs goes beyond the ordinary period of one year. They indicated that one year >> for any which is contained in this bill that SZs have a 10year license but they'll be paying fees every annually.

[00:07:54]to after fair hearing as required under the constitution. The idea uh retains ability to attract particularly in our SEZ zones. Your excellency, not just for oil and gas exploration but also for agriculture sector and for manufactur center. Your excellency upon publication.

[00:08:32]Your excellency, the last bill is a bill introduced by the leader of the majority party in 2024.

[00:08:45]Development authority bill your excellency taken so long.

[00:08:50]>> It has taken so long excellency because it has a full bicameal process being passed by the two houses. It was initially passed by the National Assembly in December 2024, sent to the Senate. The Senate also engaged in public participation. They made amendments to it. The amendments came back to the National Assembly on in November last year and the National Assembly accepted all amendments.

[00:09:22]Does a number of things. One of them is to revoke the legal notice number 23 of the year 2012 which created the KZA technopololis and therefore KZA is now estab going to be established in law.

[00:09:38]Legal notices your excellency as they are have their own limitations. It has been the decision of the cabinet to reestablish some of these state corporations under statutes.

[00:09:48]Your excellency, the idea is to place uh what to consol in a better place for purposes of attracting uh investments in that area.

[00:10:02]Your excellency the uh the technopolies development authority is now going to be a body corporate with power to sue power to borrow power to invest and also engage in all uh manner of investments with respect to technopololis.

[00:10:23][clears throat] gain your excellency. The idea is to make the authority to be a one-stop shop and to centralize to for it to become a centralized hub to streamline the provisions of government services in order to create in order to create a conducive business environment that attracts global investors. Your excellenc driven business research institutions and innovation center by providing a world-class state-of-the-art infrastructure. Your excellency permit me excellency to end my commission for the day. Thank you.

[00:11:21]>> With your excellencies ascent and the sacred trust it carries, the bills will now be entered into the body of the laws of the republic.

[00:11:31]Your excellency, sir, I now invite you to hand over the copies of the act to those who support you in the management of public affairs. commencing with the deputy president, the attorney general for publication into law and the to the cabinet secretary present for implementation.

[00:11:57]Your excellency may also graciously present ceremonial copies of the act to the speaker of the national assembly.

[00:12:07]the speaker of the National Assembly, the leaders of the majority and minority parties in the National Assembly, other members of parliament present, and all esteemed state officials in attendance.

[00:12:49]Your excellency will unveil and display an open ceremonial copy of the acts while other state officials shall bear closed copies.

[00:13:10]Your excellency sir, this marks the end of this state ceremony. I thank you your excellency.

[00:13:15]>> Congratulations madam. Thank you very much for doing a good job.

[00:13:26]Okay.