2.
MAY 2017
Saving Grace
Continued from pg. 1
The US-made DA-50 UAV was initially tested in 2015 over the Mkomazi National Park. It is equipped with an infrared camera; the DA-50 can fly multiple day and night missions sending back real time images to officers on the ground.“ This is a great solution to the poaching crisis, it is fast, discreet and accurate and it can be deployed across all of the country’ s national parks and game reserves... it can be done effectively and in a manner difficult for poachers to escape or counter,” he said.
The crisis Early last year, elephant poachers killed a British helicopter pilot Roger Gower who was on an anti-poaching mission. Every day in Tanzania, poachers mow down at least 30 elephants-a crisis that demands urgent, multifaceted and comprehensive intervention. This is not to say that nothing has been done to stop the killing of over 10,000 jumbos every year in Tanzania, rather, despite ongoing efforts, the carnage remains. There are major breakthroughs worth noting including arrest of the‘ Ivory Queen’, a Chinese woman accused of leading the illicit ivory trade for decades and being behind the smuggling of over 700 tusks that represent the killing of over 350 elephants; that is, she is responsible for the death of one elephant almost every single day. The crisis has sparked a worldwide outcry and for the past half-decade, Tanzania has become infamous so much so that it is listed among‘ the gang of eight’ that is eight countries propagating the killing of elephants and sale of their ivory. Others are Kenya, Uganda, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand and China.
“ Elephants could disappear from one of Africa’ s most important wildlife reserves within six years unless industrial scale poaching is stopped and mining is brought under control,” WWF has warned.
Three years ago on 13th November, then Minister of Natural Resources, Lazaro Nyalandu signed the Arusha Declaration on Wildlife Crime that marked Tanzania’ s declaration of war on poaching. The declaration also committed eight other African nations to the initiative and reaffirmed Tanzania’ s‘ National Strategy to Combat Poaching and Illegal Wildlife Crime’. The United Nations’ group of institutions and development partners played a central role in the implementation and realization of the initiative. Three years down the road, the partnership and support has been acclaimed as successful providing unprecedented support to law enforcement in Tanzania and the partner countries. However, experts agree that the wildlife crisis is much more complex than just law enforcement. Speaking recently in Dar es Salaam at a CEO Round Table( CEOrt) meeting, the Minster of Natural Resources and Tourism, Prof Jumanne Maghembe who delivered the keynote speech, said, while there have been setbacks, the future is promising.“ The private sector has been repeatedly referred to, in principal, as a necessary partner to launch this more complete and effective campaign; their integration into the institutional mechanics was effectively left on hold … all that has changed,” he said. In 2014, even before the Arusha meeting at which the Minister formalized the national strategy, the private sector established the Private Sector Anti- Poaching Initiative( PSAPI) the brainchild of Godfrey Simbeye, CEO of the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation( TPSF). The logic is irrefutable. Wildlife tourism is an indispensable element of the Tanzanian economy and the Private Sector must bring together its energy and capacity to ensure wildlife is protected. Under Simbeye’ s leadership, PSAPI went a step further, providing not only support in principal but in action as well. The CEOrt meeting marked another step in developing Tanzania’ s anti-poaching campaign. At the meeting, the Tanzanian
Phil Jones Martin UAV chief of operations preparing for take off in Mkomazi national park. Photo Credit UAV
development community and the government came together and in effect, asked the private sector, represented by PSAPI and TPSF to join the fight. A stakeholder project was structured to bring consensus to the varying views of public and private interests. This went side by side with incubation of the various related wildlife conservation projects referred to as‘ components’. It included vital aspects such as integrating local communities and the civil society into the national anti-poaching campaign. However, implementing solutions on
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle on display. Photo Courtesy of UAV
UAV anti-poaching surveillance is not easy, even with the best plans in place. In Tanzania, and most African countries, there are no UAV regulations in place for this new technology. Building the required capacity therefore involves negotiating the bureaucratic landscape, working with organizing authorizations and developing relationships with the security forces, the civil aviation authorities and whatever department may put their hand up and stake a claim in these activities.
Kenya’ s future ahead
Continued from pg. 1
There has been a lot of talk on netting the informal sector to include them in contributions to the national basket. Again, it being an election year there was not a lot of backing for this as the informal sector composes a majority of the deciding electorate. Concessions were made in personal taxation. The CS proposed to further expand the tax brackets by 10 % and increase the personal relief by another 10 % to bring it to KES 1,408 per month. Salaried Kenyans will now have a few extra coins in their pockets. What this effectively means is that a person earning below KES 13,706 per month will not have their income subject to tax. The highest tax band will begin at KES 47,059 up from the current KES 42,781. The exemption from tax of bonuses, overtime and retirement benefits paid to low income earners, introduced in the 2016 Finance Act, will remain. Low income earning employees will continue to receive these benefits tax-free and also including school fees paid to their children. Other goodies dished out were the zero rating of maize, wheat flour and bread. This was in a bid to contain the skyrocketing price of basic foods. Inflation in the first three months had hit 15 % mainly as a result of the draught. The new tax relief effective immediately was extended in the hope that it would stem the rise in cost of food. The CS further intimated that he would reverse the provision should the producers of these goods not pass on the benefit to the consumers. In his Speech, the CS also made proposals to amend various laws, which will in effect give recognition to Islamic financing tools. The Public Finance Management Act will be amended to provide for issuance of Sukuk bonds( Islamic bond) as another source of financing for development projects. The Income Tax and VAT Acts will also get amendments to recognize this as an income stream. Subsequently, Islamic finance return has now been included in the definition of‘ interest’ for tax purposes. In the case of VAT, this will now be an exempt source of income.
The biggest blow was dealt to the betting, gaming and lotteries industries. The CS proposed to increase the tax to a harmonized 50 % up from 7.5 % betting tax, 5 % gaming tax and 12 % lotteries tax. The tax is applicable on revenues after winnings have been paid out to the players. It has been widely misconceived that the tax would be borne by the players. Players will remain unaffected, as they will continue to receive their full winnings. However, investors in the gambling industry will be adversely affected.
Tax Rate( KES)
The new 50 % tax is not a final tax. The investors in betting, gaming and lotteries firms will also be expected to pay 30 % corporation tax on profits earned after accounting for expenses. The whole motivation behind this was that the industry was not regulated and the seeming social effects it was having on citizens.
Current Tax Band Per Month
10 % 11,180 12,298
15 % 10,534 11,587
20 % 10,534 11,587
25 % 10,534 11,587
30 % 42,781 47,059
Stakeholders have aired concerns about the handling of these issues. The move could see a proliferation of the underground betting industry and relocation of the investors to other jurisdictions. Most of the gambling platforms are based online which means they can still be accessed whether the companies have registered locally or within a different jurisdiction. The only hurdle they would have to overcome is money collection and payment points. Most gamblers have become
Proposed Tax Band per Month accustomed to the( KES)
Mpesa platform, which is now also accessible to the Commissioner. The Cabinet Secretary widened his reach to give him unfettered access to Mpesa records without necessarily requiring a court order.