The ODM Party made fun of the recent concern by government
officials and lawmakers on the taxes proposed in the Finance Bill which
President William Ruto signed into law.
The lawmakers and ranking officials have been taking stock
of the situation on the ground, where Kenyans have been decrying the oppressive
tax regimes.
For instance, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua learnt that
farmers opposed the tax on farm produce.
A withholding tax of not more than 5% on farm produce was
proposed through the Medium-term Revenue Strategy by the National Treasury.
This would see farmers contribute to the government's
initiative to raise more revenue.
For every Sh100 made in sales, a farmer would remit Sh5 to
the taxman.
However, speaking in Embu on Friday, the deputy president
admitted that the tax proposition would exploit the farmers.
According to him, it was unreasonable to fight for the
welfare of the local farmers and at the same time deprive them of their profits
through taxes.
To right the wrong, the deputy president said he had engaged
President William Ruto and the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna
Ndung'u to review the proposition.
Reacting to the quick fixes the government seems to be
after, ODM said it had warned the lawmakers when the bill was in the National
Assembly.
"We rallied our troops in Parliament to oppose the oppressive Finance Bill.
"Our brothers from the other side chanted and called us names, saying how anti-development we were.
"We knew about the BITE. The chewing
is now hard, the biting awaits Kenyans…they now know what we meant," the
party posted on Twitter.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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