Personal Opinion by Lawrence Murunga
I disagree with the Attorney General Hon Justin Muturi on the controversial Finance Bill 2024. Hon Muturi is not being honest.
All former Kenyan presidents and William Ruto’s predecessors, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel T Arap Moi, Mwai Kibaki, and Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, never envisaged a future Kenya where all Kenyans would be taxed and overtaxed year in, year out, to fund development.
No country in the world has ever survived on taxation and over-taxation of its citizens alone, and Ruto’s economic advisors should take full note of this.
President Ruto’s KK regime is trying to gamble with the lives of all Kenyans and this is dangerous for both Ruto and the country.
Kenya may be the first country in the world to tax all its citizens, both the poor and rich, their livelihoods, property and assets, and economic activities like subsistence farming, poultry, and livestock keeping, as well as avocados, vegetables, fruits, and food crop cultivations, and everything else.
No doubt, Ruto’s proposed Finance Bill 2024 is a punitive taxation Bill and therefore bad for the country. It should be rejected and thrown out by all Kenyans and their MPs.
Should the MPs fail to shoot down this punitive Finance Bill 2024, then all Kenyans must come together and initiate Mass Action.
Kenya Opposition Azimio la Umoja Coalition Chief, Raila Amolo Odinga, has heeded requests by numerous African leaders and friends to vie for the African Union Commission Chairmanship, in January 2025.
The former Prime Minister, Rt Hon Raila Odinga, is not a Government project at the AUC but needs the moral support and goodwill of the Government and Kenyans. Odinga has explained this, saying:
“I am vying for a position in Africa, not in the Government of Kenya, but I need an endorsement from the Government for that position…”
However, whether Raila Odinga wins the AUC Chairmanship or not, the lives of Kenyans and the national interests of the country supersede all others and must be put first and foremost.
Ruto’s KK regime should not use Raila Odinga’s AUC bid to milk-dry, impoverish and starve Kenyans with punitive taxes as proposed in the Finance Bill 2024.
The Constitution allows for peaceful demonstrations and picketing, and it is only through these that Kenyans can create insurmountable pressure on Ruto to stop this over-taxation spree on them.
The AG Muturi is better placed to advise President Ruto to stop this over-taxation spree to save Kenyans and their country from going through the rigours of unnecessary punitive taxation.
With this taxation madness, President Ruto may not only fall badly but also turn out to be the worst President in Kenya’s History.-]