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Nairobi senator Edwin Sifuna has told off President Wiliam Ruto’s administration over its taxation policies.

Speaking during an interview with a local TV station on Thursday, February 1, 2024, Sifuna criticized the government over its continuous policy changes that he says are affecting the already burdened Kenyans.

The senator asserted that the government was being inconsiderate of the struggling citizens who he says prefer to be paid taxes instead of salaries because the pay cuts are more, thus beneficial to them than salaries.

“If you look at people’s payslips, they are suffering, deductions have gone so high that people are saying it is more beneficial for them to be paid taxes, and the government to go away with their salaries because the taxes are more than the salaries, this is the situation we are in and right now we are just looking for common sense in government, we hear people such as Murkomen saying they want to introduce tolls to some of our roads, there must be something wrong with you,” Sifuna said.

While chastising the Ruto-led administration, Sifuna jested that the current regime was high on a drug which has made them lose touch with reality and subsequently impose ‘unrealistic’ tax measures which further drain Kenyans’ pockets.

The senator further stressed that the government should discharge its mandate dutifully and listen to the people before formulating and implementing policies that are likely to frustrate them.

“There is a big problem with this government and we want to introduce some level of common sense, whatever these people are smoking it is not working for them, they either stop it completely, reduce it or as they say in the streets..’wawache ikauke ama watoe mbegu’ because it is not working for them, let us just introduce common sense and listen to the people.

“If the Constitution starts by recognising the supremacy of the people, where is the voice of the people? What is the purpose of this public participation, you hear the Head of State himself saying that the Haiti mission is going to go on irrespective of the decisions of the court, that is not the country that we want to live in, we want common sense to return, we want the supremacy of the people of Kenya to return in governance, so I don’t see any way that we can regularise because any law that you pass must be in accordance with the people and the people have spoken clearly that they don’t want the housing levy,” Sifuna added.