- The President said the MPs made the proposals in their final report after considering public views from Kenyans which led to a number of concessions.
- He defended MPs for making the tax proposals saying they were meant to raise an additional Sh346 billion.
President William Ruto has defended MPs who voted Yes to the now impugned Finance Bill, 2024 saying they played their part in ensuring the country meets its revenue obligations.
In a statement from State House, Ruto said the President commended the MPs who voted in favour of the Bill even as he noted the decision exacerbated public outrage leading to loss of life and destruction of property.
“I am grateful to all the members of the National Assembly who voted yesterday affirmatively for the Finance Bill 2024 as amended on the floor of the House to incorporate the views generated in the public participation process,” he said.
He was flanked by government-allied MPs and several governors led by CoG chair Anne Waiguru.
The President said the MPs made the proposals in their final report after considering public views from Kenyans which led to several concessions.
These include the proposed 16 per cent VAT on bread and the 2.5 per cent motor circulation tax, VAT on locally manufactured diapers and sanitary pads as well as Excise duty on money transfer services among other concessions.
“I salute our members of parliament for supporting the proposal to incorporate the views of the public generated through the parliamentary public participation process,” the President said.
He defended MPs for making the tax proposals saying they were meant to raise an additional Sh346 billion.
Ruto said that after the concessions, the anticipated additional revenue dropped to Sh200 billion, an amount he said would have been prioritized on several critical priorities.
This includes the employment on a permanent basis of all the 46,000 JSS interns, increase NG-CDF by Sh10 billion, increase the allocation to county governments by Sh15 billion, allocate Sh14.5 billion for rural electrification and provision of an additional Sh6 billion for UHC.
Also prioritized was debt repayment owed to coffee and sugarcane farmers, and Sh2 billion to support the stabilisation of milk prices among other interventions.
The President said that despite all the concessions aforementioned, it became evident that Kenyans were still insisting on the need for more concessions.
This dissatisfaction, he noted, was communicated firmly through widespread protests which regrettably resulted in the loss of life, destruction of property and desecration of constitutional institutions.
“Consequently, having reflected on the continuing conversation around the content of the finance bill of 2024, I will decline to assent to the bill,” he said.
The Head of State sent condolences to families who lost their loved ones during the protests.
“Accordingly, as I committed on Sunday, I propose an engagement with young people of our nation to listen to their issues and agree with them on their priority areas of concern,” he said.
“I also propose that within the next 14 days, a multi-sectoral, multistakeholder engagement be held to chart the way forward on matters relating to the content of the bill.”