Religious Leaders faults Gov’t for Over Taxing Kenyans

By Emmanuel oyasi,

A section of religious leaders from West Pokot County have condemned the proposals on the 2024/2025 financial bill that is meant to increase tax on essential items.

The leaders led by the ACK retired Bishop Stephen Kewasis, the religious leaders said that the move to increase tax on items such as bread and other essential items is to oppress Kenyans who are already succumbing to high cost of living.

Speaking to Kalya Digital News on Thursday at Nasokol, Kewasis said the government should shun the appetite of continuous increase in tax while the nation is still struggling to grow economically, a large number of Kenyans being unemployed.

“The government is oppressing Kenyans by continuously increasing taxes, while the nation is struggling economically. Increasing taxes on items such as bread and other essential items is worrying to Kenyans,” said Mr.Kewasis.

At the same time, Kewasis asked the government to pay close attention to the views of Kenyans in a public participation exercise that is being carried out by the parliamentary finance committee, to ensure that the suggestions made by Kenyans are included in the bill.

“The government should consider the opinions from kenyans when carrying out public participation on this financial bill and ensure that they are included in the bill,” he said.

N otably, Kewasis’ statement comes amidst tax expert’s outrage over the finance bill, saying the tax proposals are retrogressive and ill-timed.