MP Peter Salasya
Mumias East Member of Parliament Peter Salasya has cautioned Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi against the plan to introduce some taxes that were in the withdrawn Finance Bill 2024.
In a statement on Monday, August 19, Salasta said the plan would force Kenyans back to the streets for another round of protests.
“Don’t try that foolishness, you’ll realize you don’t know what you’re doing. You want to start burning this country again. Kenyans are watching, they’ll know. You’re just bragging because you have automatic numbers from UDA and ODM, but we, Gen Z, are the official opposition. Try it at your own risk, and it will be worse this time,” said Salasya.
This comes after CS Mbadi said the government will introduce taxes that do not affect the common citizen.
“There are about 49 clauses. Some don’t even have financial implications. On the eco levy, we will target those areas that would not affect the common citizen. We can’t make a mistake on the sensitive areas because Kenyans have spoken,” Mbadi remarked.
However, Mbadi noted that the eco levy would affect multinational companies as it proposes a 10 per cent excise duty, which had previously been strongly opposed by some companies.
He pointed out that contentious products like sanitary pads will be left out of the new tax proposal.
“Eco Levy has some meanings; we will just make sure that they are levied on those items that pollute the environment. Issues that are contentious, like sanitary pads, those we will leave out,” Mbadi added.
The eco levy was among the controversial tax proposals in the Finance Bill 2024 that forced Kenyans to demonstrate.
It was set to affect various products, including plastic packaging, car batteries, diapers, sanitary towels, and rubber tires.
