Taxes –Government has vowed to push local taxes higher upto 22 percent from 16 by the end of its second term.
Speaking from Statehouse during his meeting with a team from the Harvard University on Tuesday May 14, President William Ruto noted that Kenya has to make its own revenues and reduce its debt burden.
Ruto emphasized his resolve not to preside over a bankrupt country and added that he had already put in place measures meant to cut down overspending.
“I am not going to preside over a country that is bankrupt and in debt. I made a resolve to cut down spending and told my teams that there will be no free lunch going forward,” President Ruto added.
The head of State also added that he reached at a conclusion that this country will no longer be spending what it cannot have.
“I have two fundamental things; we can’t spend what we don’t have,” further said Dr. Ruto.
Ruto argued that it was a wrong belief that Kenya was paying the highest taxes in the continent when in reality Kenya is below the rest as of now.
“Looking at our peers. Kenyans have been socialised to believe that they pay highest taxes but empirical data shows otherwise,” stated President Ruto.
To bolster his point, Ruto compared developed countries like France to Kenya saying France is at 45 percent what Kenya can also achieve despite the pain it has to go through.
“I am persuaded and have a case that we must begin to enhance our revenues higher if we are a serious State.
“Money, we go to borrow from the World Bank is savings from other countries. And we must begin to have our own cash also,” said Ruto.
He was holding a high-level engagement with the Harvard Business School’s Class of 2025 students on Africa’s trade and investment potential at the Statehouse, Nairobi.
Also present was the United States Ambassador to Kenya, Meg Whitman.
