- Moi said that any attempts to increase taxes to address the budget deficit places an unnecessary burden on Kenyans.
- He went on to say that Economic experts agree that Kenya does not face a revenue problem but an expenditure issue.
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Kanu chairman Gideon Moi now says that Kenyan Members of Parliament must reject the Finance Bill, 2024.
In a statement on Thursday, Moi said that any attempts to increase taxes to address the budget deficit places an unnecessary burden on Kenyans.
He went on to say that Economic experts agree that Kenya does not face a revenue problem but an expenditure issue.
The former Senator noted that while some of the punitive taxes have been removed, other punitive ones have been silently slipped into the Bill.
"Therefore, the National Assembly must reject the Finance Bill, 2024, in its entirety.
"The proposed amendments to clauses of the bill prescribing highly unpopular taxation measures have been cancelled out by other equally punitive proposals slipped into the bill," Moi said.
The Kanu party leader noted that to achieve prosperity, the country's leadership must prioritise industrialisation over taxation.
He said this will help expand the tax base and therefore they will be able to grow the revenue collection.
"KRA fell short of its projected tax revenues despite aggressive taxation measures introduced by the Finance Bill, 2023, indicating that higher tax rates do not necessarily result in higher tax revenue.
"To achieve economic prosperity, Kenya must prioritise industrialisation over taxation to progressively expand the tax base."
Last week, Moi warned that the Finance Bill, 2024 will condemn more Kenyans into poverty if the tax proposals are not revised.
He said Kenyans' hope solely lies on the National Assembly to amend the Bill to alleviate the burden of over-taxation.
He said the government’s approach to aggressively exact tax beyond the point of elasticity during an economic downturn will inevitably reduce the tax revenue.
Gideon Moi's remarks come amidst protests from Kenyans over the Bill they have termed punitive.
The protests, led by youths (Gen Z) began on Tuesday in Nairobi and on Wednesday in Mombasa.
On Thursday (Today), Nairobi will have another wave of the Occupy Parliament protests, while Kisumu and Laikipia among others will also make known their stand against the Finance Bill, 2024.
Ahead of the first protest on Tuesday, the ruling Kenya Kwanza dropped some of the taxes that led to the protests including the motor vehicle tax and eco levy among others.
A section of Kenyans has however insisted that they want the entire Bill rejected.