Former Health CS Mutahi Kagwe shared his views on the ongoing national debate surrounding the Finance Bill 2024, asserting that President William Ruto’s strategy has backfired.
In an interview on Spice FM, Kagwe claimed that the Kenya Kwanza government intentionally included certain proposals in the bill as a smokescreen to hoodwink the public.
The former Health CS noted that the contentious taxes on bread, sanitary pads, and diapers were included in the Bill to provoke public outrage, only to remove them later, giving the impression that they were responsive to public concerns.
“You cannot tell me that at a time when Kenyans are crying like they are, you go out there and put a tax on bread, tax babies, and sanitary pads. There is this philosophy of putting people in the hole, removing them from the hole, and they will praise you,” Kagwe said.
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Kagwe explained the strategy using the Bible, likening Ruto’s approach to wanting to play the biblical ‘Moses’ role—taking the people back to Egypt and leading them to Canaan to gain popularity.
“It’s like the ‘take us to Egypt, bring us back to Canaan, and you will be our Moses’ scenario. There’s no way anyone could have proposed such taxes at this time. I view it as a political maneuver, but they have been called out,” he said.
Kagwe pointed out that the plan failed because the Finance Bill 2024 still includes other types of taxes that will affect the people similarly to those that were removed.
“That was supposed to be the endgame, but it didn’t succeed. I think it backfired. Kenyans aren’t going to applaud anyone just because they say they won’t tax bread; there are still other taxes that remain and need reconsideration,” he stated.
Kagwe pointed out that young Kenyans are well-educated and informed, and cannot be deceived by the government’s political maneuvers.
“The current generation is not easily deceived. They can see through the government’s intentions,” Kagwe added.
