Mnyika cautions government over the use of taxpayers’ money

A Member of Parliament for Ubungo constituency John Mnyika (Chadema) has laid down some basic strategies he considered to be a major focus if followed by the government could result in proper use of Tax payers’ money for 2014/15 financial year. Among the strategic ideas the legislator has noted and which should be part of the government’s implementation programmes, in its move to ensure better productivity over the use of public fund is to stop from purchasing luxurious cars which he claims to be spending a lot of money unnecessarily. The legislator said in his personal statement he issued in Parliament last week in Dodoma just two days before the sessions were suspended on Saturday last week. In his statement, Mnyika noted another area where the government has been making extravagant use of government fund is where it continues to subdivide some regions in its move to add other new administrative areas, a factor which he said is an increase of unnecessary budget expense. In his statement, Mnyika has also reminded the government of various sources of incomes for this years’ budget as a reference to what was proposed by special speakers’ committee that was selected to evaluate government’s income and expenditure in February 2013 three months prior to the tabling of the budget session for 2013/14 financial year. The committees’ report stated that, if the government t could work on the major hurdles which are constraining the whole system of revenue collection as it had exposed before, it could have received an extra Sh. Tril 3.95 from various internal sources. 

A Member of Parliament for Ubungo constituency, Honourable John Mnyika

Either, the statement is quoted as saying that, the committee has shown that during the 2014/15 financial year and 2015/16 the government could be able to receive an extra revenue collection of about Sh. Tril 14.86. In his statement, Mnyika noted that, the government was still lagging behind in the implementation of the proposals as it was more concentrating on the proposals it raised thereafter of increasing the commodities’ prices an aspect that caused high inflation rates on various selling products instead of looking for other extra major sources. In view of this, Mnyika has issued a statement as a reminder in reference to section 109 (2) of the House standing orders of 2013 as a way to fill the gaps and endorsed 12 major things if followed could bring better results. Among the proposed things which the legislator has outlined in his statement includes tax exemptions should be reviewed as in accordance to the national development plan (2011/2012- 2015/2016) and reach up to 1 percent as it would increase national income by sh. Tril. 1.18 per year. He said if such tax exemptions could be reduced by one third during 2013/14 financial year, the government would have increased its income rates by Sh. 393.3 billions. The remaining two third of the tax exemptions of  Sh. 786.7 billion could have been collected in the coming years starting from 2014/15 and 2015/16 fiscal year. However, he said adding that the rates might increase tremendously according to the national economic growth. Another thing the Ubungo legislator noted in this statement is the TRA and Tanzania Airport Authority (TAA) should have strengthened and join hands in their revenue collection strategies especially at the Julius Nyerere International Airports (JNIA) as he is sure the government would have received at least 12 billion and more.