You have not seen anything yet as RUTO vows to raise taxes even more whether Kenyans like it or not – Look! Does this guy live in Utopia?

Thursday, May 16, 2024 - President William Ruto seems to have lost touch with the ground. 

This is evident after he vowed to raise taxes, causing an uproar among Kenyans.

Speaking during a meeting with Harvard University students at the State House in Nairobi where he affirmed his commitment to ensuring that Kenya charts a path towards sustainability and avoids taking out loans, Ruto announced the government's intention to impose more taxes on Kenyans to help the country get out of debt distress.

He stated that the only way to do this is for every eligible Kenyan to pay their fair share to the taxman.

To that end, Ruto revealed the government's plan to increase taxation from 14 per cent to 16 per cent by the end of 2024 and 22 per cent by the end of his first term.  

“I am not going to preside over a bankrupt country, I am not going to preside over a country that is in debt distress. We have to cut our spending," Ruto declared.

The Head of State while defending his move, argued that Kenya's tax rates were way below the threshold by the country's peers across the continent.

“Kenyans have been socialised to believe they pay a lot of taxes, but empirical data shows that Kenya last year our tax was at 14 per cent," Ruto stated.

"Our peers in the continent are between an average of between 22 per cent and 25 per cent, our taxes are way below our peers," he argued.

Ruto's sentiments came barely a week after the National Treasury gazetted the Finance Bill, 2024 which proposed a slew of new taxes which attracted backlash from finance experts and Kenyans in general.

The Kenyan DAILY POST