Opposition leader Raila Odinga now wants President William Ruto to withdraw the Finance Bill 2023 and apologize to Kenyans for the concern the tax measures have caused them.
The Kenya Kwanza administration, according to Raila, has run out of justifications for the ideas in the Bill and has resorted to threatening Azimio MPs with a no vote.
During yesterday’s Azimio leadership consultative session on the Finance Bill 2023 in Nairobi, Raila warned that if Ruto got his way in the National Assembly, they would band together and defeat him in the assembly of the people.
“In the history of budget making in Kenya, no regime has imposed so many and so high taxes on our people in return for nothing but fantasies and fairy tales. This Bill is a disease that cannot be cured with everyday herbs. This Bill is economic sabotage, If Ruto insists on this Bill, this country will go into full recession, this Bill requires and must get fierce resistance,” said Raila.
according to Raila, no wise leader would eliminate subsidies for basic goods before raising taxes on those same items without increasing wages for workers.
Raila claimed that the government intended to impose taxes on chamas, which serve as mothers’ and young people’s last resort lenders, particularly in rural areas and slums.
He claimed that by enacting these taxes, Ruto would strike at the foundation of women’s economies, destroying savings and escalating poverty among a group that is already at risk.
As the National Hospital Insurance Fund and the National Social Security Fund are insolvent, the Azimio leader claimed that the President is advising Kenyans to withhold 3% of their pay and invest it in “some fantasy called housing levy where nobody knows where it is housed.”
He pointed out that the government plans to target small businesses by lowering the turnover of taxable firms from Sh1 million to Sh500,000 and increasing the turnover tax for businesses from the existing 1% to 3%. This means that regardless of whether they produce a profit or not, any small firm that sells goods and services for Sh1,370 per day must pay a turnover tax of Sh15,000.
Raila claimed that although Ruto made a commitment to value each employment and its contribution to the economy, the ideas in the Finance Bill fall short of expectations. He pointed out that the hard-working millennials trying to make ends meet as social media influencers and content creators will be the ones most negatively impacted by the 5% withholding tax.
The former prime minister criticized government plans to quadruple the fuel VAT from 8% to 16%, which will result in pump prices rising by Sh9 for diesel and Sh10 for gasoline and significantly increase the cost of life.
He claimed that the cost of healthcare has put millions of people in poverty, but Ruto wants to tax pharmaceuticals and medicines by removing them from the list of items that are exempt from taxation.
Raila claimed that after reading the proposal, one is left to wonder what planet Ruto resides on and whether he is aware of the struggles facing Kenyans. He charged Kenya Kwanza with lying, claiming that the nation was insolvent while in reality, the financial crisis had been brought on by poor economic management, wasteful expenditure, corruption, and the hiring of incompetent employees. The leader of Azimio alleged that over the past eight or so months, State House and the President’s Office have been fabricating the deteriorating economic situation.
“As the Bill heads to the National Assembly, Ruto must be reminded that excessive taxation is stifling growth, that when people have to park cars at home because of cost of fuel, it is bad for the economy, that when Kenyans postpone travelling up-country because they can’t afford fuel or fare, it is bad for the economy,” said Raila.