Murang’a governor Irungu Kang’ata has said he will write a letter to the government to consider not hiking taxes.
The governor said the letter will inform the government of the pains being experienced by local youth and the need for the Kenya Kwanza administration to listen to their voices.
Kang’ata has said the national government does not have to hike taxes to consolidate enough revenue to serve Kenyans.
This, he said, is because a huge amount of government funds end up in people’s pockets, eating into the country’s development.
“The solution is not hiking taxes but embracing automation to seal the loopholes used to siphon government funds,” he said.
His administration raised over Sh1 billion in own source revenue, about double the amount previously collected, after digitising its revenue collection systems.
Protesting youth, who disrupted a meeting the governor was holding at Ihura stadium in Murang’a town, cheered.
Kang’ata threw his weight behind the demonstrators, who have been protesting the Finance Bill, saying the government should instead put measures into place to ensure funds are prudently utilised.
Police officers allowed the youth to picket around the town for hours. They only engaged the protestors when they burnt a banner erected by the county a few weeks ago, detailing its programmes and which had been mounted on a roundabout.
“As your governor, I support you and that’s why I have asked the police not to engage you aggressively. It’s your right to demonstrate,” the governor who is a member of the ruling UDA party said.
