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Mumias East Member of Parliament (MP) Peter Kalerwa Salasya has called for the suspension of the Finance Bill 2024 in its entirety.

Speaking outside the National Assembly on Tuesday June 18, 2024, Salasya noted that most Kenyans have rejected the proposals contained in the Bill despite scrapping some of the punitive tax measures.

Salasya opined that scrapping some of the revenue sharing measures is not the solution thus terming the pronouncements as hot air.

“Whatever has been spoken is just hot air. The way the Finance Bill has been packaged, Kenyans do not want to have it. That is a reality,” Salasya stated.

“Reducing 16 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on bread is not the solution,” he added.

This comes a day after he called on Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u to appear in parliament and detail how the current Finance Act has helped shape the country’s economy.

Speaking at his rural Mumias backyard on Monday, June 17, 2024, Salasya argued that MPs will only take part in the Finance Bill 2024 debate if they are properly informed of the success of the previous one.

“We are not going to have that discussion about the Finance Bill. It is a must for the Treasury CS to come and explain what they have achieved with the current one,” Salasya said.

“They said that they were going to table a Finance Bill that would change the country and make the country have enough money but right now I have not even issued all the bursary money because that Bill has not helped us and you still want to add more taxes? Kenyans have refused!”

List of tax raising measures proposal removed

According to National Assembly Finance Committee chair Kimani Kuria some of the contentious issues have been dropped following thorough deliberations.

Among the proposals dropped are taxes on bread, locally manufactured diapers and sanitary pads, motor vehicles, and eco-tax. However, the tax on the transfer of mobile services remains at 15 per cent.

“The public participation exercise was not an exercise in futility,” Kimani stated.

Motor vehicle owners can also breathe a sigh of relief as the proposed 2.5 per cent annual tax has been scrapped.

“This move is also aimed at easing the burden of the rising cost of living and is in the best interest of Kenyans, following various meetings where public views were collected,” he added.

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