A Review of the fiscal regime and tax compliance in the oil and gas industry in Kenya

A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in Public Policy and Management at Strathmore UniversityThe recent discovery of oil and gas in Kenya is an opportunity to establish sound policies to support the generation of revenue. For citizens not directly benefiting from the oil and gas industry, revenue to the nation will be shared for the benefit of all, including future generations. Protecting this revenue throughout the life of the finite resource then is a major consideration for policy makers. Taxpayers are not always of the same conviction as the Government of the revenue they should pay, hence revenue from macroeconomic projections and actual revenue collected can vary. Worldwide, disputes arising from oil and gas have resulted in loss of revenue to Governments. In addition to revenue forecasting, it is prudent to plan for collection through taxpayer compliance management in order to mitigate against revenue shortfalls resulting from realized tax compliance risks. Progressive taxation planning is an international best practice in oil and gas revenue planning that allows policy makers to move to seal loopholes as and when they occur since it is difficult to foresee all challenges facing the fiscal regime in oil and gas. This research sought to add to knowledge in progressive taxation planning by reviewing Kenya’s oil and gas fiscal regime and tax compliance factors for optimized revenue collection. Revenue regimes and tax compliance factors in the research were determined by studying fiscal regimes and compliance actions in the oil and gas industry in Africa from publicized cases that have been determined and concluded in a court of law. Fiscal regimes were compared with Kenya’s corresponding fiscal regime and tax compliance factors that work in Kenya were deduced from taxpayer compliance actions using qualitative content analysis methods. It was found that Kenya’s fiscal regime in the oil and gas industry provides for collection of tax on Transfer of Interests and Signature Bonus, meaning that the fiscal regime was robust enough to facilitate for scenarios of collection of taxes from Transfers of Interest and Signature Bonus from oil and gas. However, the fiscal regime did not provide for staying proceedings in order to seek arbitration provided under Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs), which pointed to an area of possible loss of revenue collection through parallel and unrelated processes for tax dispute resolution. The factors of tax compliance found to apply in Kenya were deterrence, norms, opportunity for evasion, fairness and trust, economic and financial factors and industry practice. It was deduced that a taxpayer in the oil and gas industry: unlike other industries, has favorable and robust options in dispute resolution processes; may want to avoid prolonged disputes; and can enjoy protection under the PSCs that fiscal regimes are not enforceable when they default. Overall, the taxpayers in the oil and gas industry showed preference for functioning PSCs that provided for the demands of the industry; clearly defined fiscal regimes and incentives; mitigation of issues that can result in reputational risks, disadvantages to the business and financial losses; and a good-natured working relationship with the Government leaning heavily on legal compliance. PSCs were found to be strong tax compliance instruments leveraged by International Oil Companies and needed harmonized with fiscal regimes for optimal revenue collection

POLYMORPHISMS OF DRUG-METABOLIZING ENZYMES CYP1A2, CYP2D6, GST, NAT2 AND TRANSPORTER MDR1 IN POPULATION OF BELARUS: COMPARISON WITH SELECTED EUROPEAN AND ASIAN POPULATIONS

Drug therapeutic efficiency and development of unfavorable pharmacologic responses as well as the disease predisposition are caused first of all by patient’s genetic features. Genetic variations in genes encoding drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporter proteins are essential to understand the ethnic differences in disease occurrence, development, prognosis, therapeutic response and toxicity of drugs. For that reason, it is necessary to establish the normative frequency distribution of genotypes and alleles of these genes in a particular population. Data on frequency of pharmacogenetic polymorphisms in the of Belarus population are limited. The goal of our investigation was to analyze the frequency distribution of genotypes and alleles of genes encoding drug-metabolizing enzymes (CYP1А2, CYP2D6 – I phase; GSTs, NAT2 – II phase) and transporter protein MDR1 in the population of Belarus and comparisons with other ethnic populations. Our results indicate that clinically important genes are genetically highly variable and differ considerably between populations. Differences in allele frequencies across continents should be considered when designing clinical trials of new drugs continents should be considered when designing clinical trials of new drugs

POLYMORPHISMS OF DRUG-METABOLIZING ENZYMES CYP1A2, CYP2D6, GST, NAT2 AND TRANSPORTER MDR1 IN POPULATION OF BELARUS: COMPARISON WITH SELECTED EUROPEAN AND ASIAN POPULATIONS

Drug therapeutic efficiency and development of unfavorable pharmacologic responses as well as the disease predisposition are caused first of all by patient’s genetic features. Genetic variations in genes encoding drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporter proteins are essential to understand the ethnic differences in disease occurrence, development, prognosis, therapeutic response and toxicity of drugs. For that reason, it is necessary to establish the normative frequency distribution of genotypes and alleles of these genes in a particular population. Data on frequency of pharmacogenetic polymorphisms in the of Belarus population are limited. The goal of our investigation was to analyze the frequency distribution of genotypes and alleles of genes encoding drug-metabolizing enzymes (CYP1А2, CYP2D6 – I phase; GSTs, NAT2 – II phase) and transporter protein MDR1 in the population of Belarus and comparisons with other ethnic populations. Our results indicate that clinically important genes are genetically highly variable and differ considerably between populations. Differences in allele frequencies across continents should be considered when designing clinical trials of new drugs continents should be considered when designing clinical trials of new drugs

“Transition Phase” water supply interventions in low-income urban settlements: Kenya

A multitude of transitional water supply and distribution interventions are continually piloted in Kenya’s fast-growing urban settlements to meet national and global MDG targets, yet visible problems persist regardless of the investments made. This research evaluates the performance of four interventions led by public utilities and non- governmental organisations in the low-income settlements of Nairobi, Kisumu and Nakuru counties. To understand the service improvement received by the residents, this study used qualitative data from interviews and focus group discussions and quantitative data from 1,168 household surveys. Service level analysis results showed making water more affordable using pre-paid technology reduced the effective price by 75% and increased consumption per household by 20 litres per day, resulting in the highest service progress. Improving water accessibility for the very poor via hosepipe door-step delivery reduced the burden on women carrying water by 43% although efforts failed to reduce the pricing structure, limiting the progress. Subsidised ‘first-time’ metered plot connections to increase the utility customer base experienced shortages in water supply and reluctance from landlords, restricting development. Despite showing no positive change, 81% of residents continued to rely on expensive self-supplied boreholes which were all contaminated. Although the utilities have made positive strides in service improvement, in the context of universal service this study has shown that the very poor remain the most difficult to access, forming the target of discrete interventions that experience difficulties in influencing a reliable supply, sustained price reduction and/or good water quality – essentially what is needed most. In investigating the longer term supply and demand shortfall, this study concludes that the equitable supply and innovative distribution of point source groundwater, with a bias for the poorest, could be the most resilient transitional solution for the utility to promote in the foreseeable future, out of necessity rather than desire

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o: Networks, Literary Activism and the Production of World Literature

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the link in this recordThis chapter explores Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s significance in world literature through the frame of publishers’ networks and literary activism, and argues for the ways in which his work has redefined ideas of ‘world literary space’ (Casanova 2004). The chapter opens by reading the networks and structures of value made visible through the Nairobi launch of Petals of Blood ̶ Ngũgĩ’s fourth novel published in Heinemann’s African Writers Series and his last written in English. Leading on from this, it places Ngũgĩ’s critical interventions on world literature in essay collections Moving the Centre: The Struggle for Cultural Freedoms (1993) and Globalectics: Theory and the Politics of Knowing (2014) into dialogue with his own Africa-centred publishing relationships and trajectories. Ultimately, the chapter draws attention to Ngũgĩ’s crucial work ̶ visible through his literary production, critical interventions and publishing decisions ̶ in ‘moving the centre’ of world literature away from the West