President William Ruto and Bishop Mark Kariuki at the Deliverance Majestic City Church
NAIROBI, Feb 6 (NNN-KBC) — President William Ruto says he will not relent in his push for every Kenyan to pay tax irrespective of social status.
The President says he has instructed the Kenya Revenue Authority to enter into agreements with tax defaulters on modalities of paying.
The president at the same time instructed government agencies who have sued the tax collector to withdraw the cases immediately and get to the negotiating table.
While addressing the faithful at Deliverance Majestic City Church in Ruai, Ruto said all Kenyans are now in agreement that there should be no waiver for taxes for anybody.
“I’m happy that as a country, we have built a consensus that irrespective of your status, region or religion there will be no tax waiver for anybody,” he stated.
The Head of State defended his passionate push for having a candid tax payment model, arguing that the easiest way to offset the nation from its burdening debt is if revenue collection is seamless and accountable.
“The remedy to solve the debt burden is to pay taxes and become independent in developing the nation with our own money and even get to a point where instead of borrowing we will be lending to other nations. That is the trajectory we want to go,’ he noted.
President Ruto also noted that he will soon issue a notice barring government agencies from taking the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to court due to taxation arrears, advising that all matters should be solved out of court.
“There will be a circular that all government agencies cannot take KRA to court. If there is a challenge let there be discussions between the various agencies and settle the matter out of court. We cannot be using public money to go to court.”
The tax debate comes amid a standoff with the Kenyatta and Moi families over allegations that they have not been paying taxes to the national taxman.
On Saturday, former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta broke the silence and termed the standoff as pointless politicization of tax matters, which can be addressed through government channels.
She added that politicians are peddling lies so that they can be seen to be working, noting that if it is indeed true that she has not been paying her taxes then her property should be sold. — NNN-KBC
