President William Ruto on Sunday maintained that all Kenyans must pay taxes, remarks that echoed sentiments made by former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta a day earlier.
While addressing faithful at Deliverance Church International in Ruai, Nairobi, Ruto said all Kenyans are now in agreement that there should be no waiver for taxes for anybody.
“I'm happy that as a country, we have built consensus that irrespective of your status, region or religion there will be no tax waiver for anybody,” he stated.
“We have all agreed that there will be no big people, we are all equal before the law and the Constitution and we will all pay taxes according to our income. That is commendable because we will not be looking at tribe, class, religion or whether you are young or old when we discuss tax matters,” he added.
The President added that agreeing to pay taxes is the best consensus the country could have.
“It will help us deal with debt menace. The answer to growing debt is for everybody to pay taxes.”
Ruto’s push to have all Kenyans pay taxes has been seen as targeted at Uhuru Kenyatta and the late President Daniel Moi's families.
While addressing MPs' post election seminar in Mombasa last Monday, Ruto stated that some people exempted themselves from paying taxes when they were in power.
He claimed the same individuals want to maintain the status quo by sponsoring Azimio rallies, but vowed not to allow non payment of taxes under his watch.
“The good people who were used to exempting themselves from paying tax, their days are up," Ruto said.
"Every citizen must pay tax. It doesn’t matter even if they sponsor demonstrations so that they don’t pay tax. I promise them they will pay tax. There is no more exemption," he affirmed.
Speaking during the opening of the Tewa Catholic Church which she helped build in Mpeketoni, Lamu county, Mama Ngina said paying taxes is a must for everyone regardless of status.
“Paying taxes is a must whether you are big or small. People must pay taxes according to their income,” she said.
However, the former First Lady said tax matters should not be politicised and discussed in rallies by government officials.
Mama Ngina said politicians should not tarnish people's name's over the tax issue so as to be seen to be working.
“This is because if you do not pay, you should be taken to court,” she said in Swahili.
Mama Ngina pointed out that tax matters should be addressed through established legal processes , if need be, stating that public rallies have no place in matters taxation.
She dared the government to auction her property to settle any perceived tax debt if it is indeed true that she has not been paying her taxes.