Rebel ODM lawmakers support finance bill

Two rebel ODM lawmakers have vowed to support the 2024 Finance Bill, saying its proposals are meant to jumpstart the economy.

MPs Gedion Ochanda (Bondo) and Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda said the government was the only legitimate body with the right to tax Kenyans and raise revenue for development.

“This is not the first government to tax Kenyans. Previous governments have also taxed us at will. What is  the fuss about this one?’’ he posed

Speaking in Nyakach during the burial ceremony for Senator Ojienda’s mother, Agnetta Odundo Ojienda. Ochanda asked Kenyans to stop bickering over this year’s budget proposals.

“The government has no agricultural farms. You people are the farms the state must harvest from,’’ he claimed.

But his remarks stirred a storm, with some mourners heckling him over his insistence that Kenyans must agree to pay taxes and support the budget as read.

Ochanda declared that he will support the budget proposals and monetary reforms under President Ruto’s administration. He had to cut short his speech as grumbling in the crowd grew, with some mourners asking him to sit down.

Ochanda spoke even as Kenyans continued to call for the revenue and expenditure plans for the 2024/2025 fiscal year to be reviewed.

Tall order

Many Kenyans have rejected the tax proposals in the bill, which outlines how revenue would be collected.

The bill proposes several tax measures to raise revenue.

Kenya will spend an estimated  Sh3.9 trillion, according to the National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee.

“Considering a budget that reduces allocation for key sectors such as education, health, agriculture, trade, transport and energy is a tall order,’’ Ochanda claimed.

For the State to deliver the services that the people expect, he said, it must be allowed to collect taxes.

Ochanda declared he would support the bill when Parliament resumes sittings tomorrow  despite opposition from ODP, the party that sponsored him to the House.

ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna told ODM lawmakers that they must unite and shoot down the bill tomorrow.

“We have asked all our MPs to make sure that nothing against the common man gets the green light by being endorsed by Parliament,’’ said Sifuna

He warned ODM renegade MPs of stern action against them if they openly defy the party’s position by voting the bill.

“If implemented in its current form, Finance Bill 2024 will increase the cost of production, thereby destroying the competitiveness of local and export markets,’’ said Sifuna.

Among the contentious tax proposals are 16 percent VAT on basic commodities including bread.