President William Ruto says tax remittances will ease Kenya’s debt burden and eventually make the country financially independent.
The President expressed delight that “all Kenyans” have agreed to pay taxes, saying no one will be exempted from paying their dues.
President Ruto appeared to be referring to the Kenyatta family after former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta on Saturday denied reports of evading taxes. She said if it is indeed true that she has not been remitting her taxes then her property should be sold.
Speaking on Sunday at Deliverance Church International in Ruai, Nairobi, President Ruto said: “I am happy that as a country we have agreed and built consensus that irrespective of your status or all other considerations, whatever region and religion you have come from, we have agreed that there will be no waiver of taxes for anybody. We have agreed that everyone will pay their taxes.”
“And I am now happy that together as a nation we have unified our thoughts that we will pay our taxes in accordance with our salaries. It is the best consensus we can have as a nation and it is the path that will help us pay our national debt.”
Ruto defended his drive to have a candid tax payment model, saying the easiest way to unburden the country is if revenue collection is seamless and accountable.
“The remedy to solve the debt burden is to pay taxes and become independent in developing the nation with our own money and even get to a point where instead of borrowing we will be lending to other nations. That is the trajectory we want to go,’ he said.
President Ruto at the same time said he will soon issue a notice barring government agencies from taking the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to court due to taxation arrears.
“There will be a circular that all government agencies cannot take KRA to court. If there is a challenge let there be discussions between the various agencies and settle the matter out of court. We cannot be using public money to go to court.”
