Economy –Kenya is staring at a reduced job intake as investment opportunities shrink due to investors move to flee the Kenyan market due to taxes.
Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) CEPO, Anthony Mwangi today, on Monday, May 27, announced that Kenya is going to face a difficult economic time as foreign investors will be taking off one after another what will lead to huge job loss.
CEO Mwangi said this during an interview with Hot 96, where he clarified that the situation will be triggered by the Finance Bill 2024 which is extremely punitive.
“If you look at the export promotion and investment levy cumulatively, what the government has collected is what it used to collect from one company in a month. So you destroy a sector to collect peanuts,” the CEO stated this.
He noted that the situation will not only be affecting the investors but will hit down the ladder to the common consumer.
The new taxes, he argued, will make the cost f either importation and manufacturing go higher hence high prices of commodities; what might, in return, lead to reduced sales and a subsequent reduction in job intake across the board.
“When you come here as an investor you are taken in rounds with some officials asking for some token. These global investors have no appetite for some of these investment destinations that operate like that,” he remarked.
In the Bill, the CEO realized that there are many grey areas which, if not corrected now, will automatically increase unemployment levels.
Economist and finance pundits have, of late, taken issues with the Finance Bill 2024 as it is saying it is punitive and would bring with it negative impact.
Finance and Budget Committee Chairman Ndindi Nyoro has, recently, assured members of the public that the Bill will be brought to the people first for deliberations before it is passed in parliament.
On his part, President Ruto has repeatedly said that for Kenya to be self-sufficient, he will have to increase local tax collection percentage to 22 from the current 16.
