Senators, MPs ‘leading revolt against taxes’
What you need to know:
- Mr Ruto said that the politicians are trying to remain relevant and looking for sympathy votes by inciting people not to pay levies.
- “It is the function of the national government to collect revenue from all the counties, put them together and share them with counties for specific projects. Then why are they saying that they have given the money to counties? It is our money,” Mr Malombe said.
- “My county relies on agriculture to collect revenue. The national government has made it very difficult because all the levies go to them. They collect the money as Commodity Tax,” he said.
Governors have accused Senators and MPs of frustrating the collection of taxes by inciting citizens to demonstrate against them.
The governors also claimed that the national government was short-changing the county government in the sharing of the revenue.
They said that they have never been given a conducive environment to collect more revenue.
The chairman of the Governors Council Isaac Ruto said that they face a hard time collecting revenue.
“What kind of leadership is this? What are our leaders trying to achieve at the end of the day? After frustrating us, they will tell us that we are not collecting revenue,” he said.
Mr Ruto said that the politicians are trying to remain relevant and looking for sympathy votes by inciting people not to pay levies. “We are not in the business of fighting with other leaders. Whenever we propose something good for citizens, there must be opposing forces from other people,” he said.
Kitui Governor Julius Malombe said the law specifies the kind of revenue that the county government can raise. The governor said this limits them.
“County governments needs sufficient money for their development projects. To deliver services, we came up with the county Integrated Development Plan, which is not funded. It is just a piece of paper,”he said.
“Even if a county is maximising its revenue collection, how much can it collect given our revenue raising model is heavily skewed in favour of the national government,” the governor asked.
IT IS OUR MONEY
“It is the function of the national government to collect revenue from all the counties, put them together and share them with counties for specific projects. Then why are they saying that they have given the money to counties? It is our money,” Mr Malombe said.
Meru Governor Peter Munya echoed his colleague’s sentiments saying sources of taxes in counties are limited.
Residents also complain of double taxation as both the national and county governments collect taxes.
“My county relies on agriculture to collect revenue. The national government has made it very difficult because all the levies go to them. They collect the money as Commodity Tax,” he said.
The governors blamed senators for not passing the laws that will help them collect more money.
Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow, who is also the chairman of the Committee of Finance, however said the taxes they are supposed to collect are enough and they do not need to tax people more.
“The property and the entertainment taxes are enough. It does not make sense to tax the poor,” Mr Kerrow said. He said that they are working on a Bill that stipulate how revenue will be shared with the county. But the governors questioned whether the Bill will be supported by the National Assembly.
Ms Elizabeth Gondi, a Kenya Revenue Authority commissioner, urged the governors to embrace technology to enhance revenue collection. They should install their own systems of managing revenue, she said.
