I have an overall picture of what the Finance Bill, 2023 seeks to do.
One, the Bill seeks to increase the ordinary revenue collection by about 17 percent.
That is the main aim of these measures, to increase revenue collection.
The second reason for the Bill is to limit growth in terms of general expenditure by the government.
This will lead to reduction in fiscal deficit by about 4.4 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product.
And the third reason for the new tax measures is to help the government get out of the fiscal hole that it is in right now.
The last government left the country is a fiscal hole and that was inherited by the new regime.
So, the aim of the Bill is not to punish Kenyans.
The aim is to raise revenue in order to enable the government to run its services and meet its obligation.
We all know that we have a huge public debt.
The government can only service the debt and implement its development agenda if it raises enough revenue.
Therefore, the new tax measures are not punitive. It is not punitive at all as some people want to put it.
It is only aimed at enabling all sectors in the society and in the country to contribute towards revenue collection by the government.
There are so many sectors in the society and in Kenya which were not contributing to the tax regime.
So, we want, all of us collectively, to follow the way it is done in Ethiopia and other countries to ensure that all of us contribute to tax collection for this country.
This will help the government to increase revenue collection by about 17 per cent.
In nutshell, there is nothing sinister about the new measures that have been proposed by the government.
This issue should not attract negative political comments.
Every Kenyan should be able to support it, and at the end of it, Kenya will succeed.
The Ford Kenya secretary general and Tongaren MP spoke to the Star
(Edited by V. Graham)