• According to him, the people liable the proposed taxes should they be approved are Members of Parliament.
• Ledama said the people Kenyans elected to represent them play to the tune of what the president wants.
Image: Handout
Narok Senator Ledama Olekina now says that President William Ruto is not to blame for the proposed increase in taxes.
According to him, the people liable for the proposed taxes should they be approved are Members of Parliament.
Ledama said the people Kenyans elected to represent them play to the tune of what the president wants.
One of the roles of MPs is to oversight the Executive, which is led by the president.
"Don’t blame William Ruto for high taxes blame your members of parliament! When the fuel tax goes to 16 per cent blame your MPs. When civil servants are taxed 3 per cent for housing blame your MPs. They are the ones who are gullible. Instead of saying no, they say yes to everything that Ruto wants!" he said.
Last week, the National Treasury submitted the Finance Bill, 2023 to the National Assembly for processing ahead of the 2023/24 budget estimates approval.
The National Treasury has proposed that from July 1, the VAT pricing on petroleum products will go up from the current 8 per cent enacted during the tenure of retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The Bill also proposes the amendment of the Employment Act of 2007 to require employers to contribute to the National Housing Development Fund for each of their employees.
Employers will pay three per cent of their employees' monthly basic salary to the Fund, and employees will also be required to contribute three percent of their monthly basic salary.
It also proposes a raft of taxes that will have a major impact on Kenya’s digital content creators and owners of platforms that facilitate the trading of digital assets.
The proposal includes a 15 per cent withholding tax on payments related to the monetisation of digital content, which will significantly impact the thousands of young people who make their living in the digital space.
Any person who receives rental income on behalf of the owner of the premises shall deduct tax and within 24 hours remit the amount to the taxman.
This cuts the period the rental income tax is paid from the 20th day of the month, as has been the case.