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Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi has promised reduce the taxation burden on ordinary Kenyans if he is elected President in next year’s General Election.

Mudavadi, who is eyeing the One Kenya Alliance (OKA) presidential ticket, is riding on the economic growth message.

Under his mantra “Uchumi Bora kwa Wote na Pesa Mfukoni” (Economy for all, money in the pockets), the former Vice President is anchoring his State House bid on recovery and growth of the economy.

“For us to have a broad economic recovery, my government will lower taxes.

There will be no additional taxes, but lowering taxes will increase compliance and bring into the fold new tax players.

Easing the tax burden on business will create jobs for young people,” Mudavadi said in Nairobi during a media round table forum on his economic agenda.

He attributed the current tax burden on Kenyans to excessive borrowing that has forced government to tax more to meet its debt obligations, adding that the tax regime is no longer sustainable.

“Taxes leave no disposable incomes for investment. Dependency is taking its toll on young working Kenyans.

As the country’s creditworthiness shrinks, there is a multiplier effect on families who are sinking deeper into debt poverty,” said Mudavadi. 

The ANC leader said the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) had found itself in a difficult situation “of being a jailer without inmates” in terms of set targets in revenue collection “and has resorted to throwing every Kenyan into the tax prison.” 

According to Mudavadi, some 16 million Kenyans are jobless with youth aged 18-34 years making up six million unemployed and underemployed.

“This is an SMEs-driven economy where SMEs constitute 98 per cent of all business in Kenya, create 30 per cent of the jobs annually as well as contribute three per cent of the GDP. 

But out of the eight million SMEs, over two million enterprises closed shop and five million lost jobs in the sector as a result of Covid-19,” he said.