Explainer: The First Mistake Made By President Ruto-Led Administration
President Ruto-Led Administration according to Nominated MP John Mbadi made a great mistake when the introduced high taxes on Kenyans.
“We all agree that the amount of debt is unmanageable, but the government is mistaken in thinking that raising taxes will enable it to obtain more revenue from Kenyans.” People stop spending the moment you start criticizing their pay, he said on Tuesday.
During an interview with NTV, Mbadi, who is also the ODM chairman, was speaking.
He continued by saying that the county had turned unproductive, as evidenced by the money collected in the first quarter of the 2023–2024 fiscal year.
Ruto-Led Administration
For the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the Kenya income Authority (KRA) fell short of its income forecast by Sh79 billion.
The National Assembly’s Finance Committee was informed by KRA Commissioner-General Humphrey Wattanga that the inability to reach revenue targets was caused in part by low oil import tax exemptions on food-related commodities, weak economic growth, and some government institutions’ refusal to submit pay-as-you-earn (PAYE).
The tax man reported an 8.4% increase in revenue collection in the first quarter of the FY 2023–2024, while missing its target.
This comes after the authority brought in Sh586.9 billion from July to September of 2023 as opposed to Sh541.6 billion in the same time the previous year.
Mbadi went on to say that Kenyans are cutting back because the government has given the wrong message by raising taxes.
“People start acting consciously when you start attacking them because they think you’re hurting the economy and they don’t have enough money.” such that even with an increase in output, there won’t be any market for those products,” he continued.”
The ODM lawmaker made proposals while stating that it is a truth that there is an economic crisis that needs to be handled on a global scale.
Ruto-Led Administration
The MP listed the effects of COVID-19 and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as some of the economic issues.
Mbadi stated that the government should have stabilized the economy before coming to Kenya.
“To address this the government should stimulate the economy and you cannot do this when you are shrinking the domestic demand,” he stated.
