The Anglican Church of Kenya Butere diocese bishop Rose Okeno has pleaded with the members of the parliament to reject the finance bill 2024 in its current form.
The bishop said that Kenyans are already struggling with the high cost of living and adding more taxes will be shouldering them a burden.
Rt. Rev Rose pleaded with the National Assembly Committee conducting the public participation on the finance bill 2024 to remove provisions in the legislation that may hurt common mwananchi.
“In 2023, we saw the enacted Finance Bill increase the cost of living and cost of doing business for enterprises, while the mwananchi was left with reduced disposable income, making it difficult for even basic survival. It is our sincere hope that the parliamentary committee will do the needful based on the feedback received and remove some of those provisions that will hurt the mwananchi more than be beneficial to him”, said Rev. Rose.
Speaking at St. Stephen’s Inaya ACK parish after attending the diocesan KAMA rally, the fourth diocesan Butere bishop noted with concerns the piling taxes on the taxpayer and instead asked the government to address the wastage and leakages in government.
“We call upon the parliamentary committee responsible to do the right thing and delete these proposals that are contained in the Finance Bill, 2024. We note that in a society like Kenya, the burden of providing for the family and putting food on the table falls squarely on the lap of a woman. Any action that increases the cost of providing for the family is borne directly by a woman and puts the entire family at significant risk”, urged the bishop.
The Rt. Reverend pleaded with the government not to introduce VAT taxes on basic goods like bread and cooking oil because it would disadvantage low-earning families.
“The proposal to introduce Excise Duty on both raw and refined vegetable oil at 25%. Analysis has shown that this will exponentially increase the cost of cooking oil by up to 80% of the current cost, which in addition will have a ripple effect on other products like bar soap, bread, mandazis, chapatis, chips among others”, she listed.
The bishop who was flanked by the members of the clergy from the diocese together with members of KAMA and Mothers’ Union when addressing the media outside the church also added that the introduction of motor vehicle taxes is punitive and it would demotivate many people from owning vehicles.
The bishop’s call comes a few days after the ACK Arch-Bishop Dr. Jackson Ole Sapit appeared before the parliamentary committee collecting views on the controversial bill and prophesized economic doom if the parliament went ahead to pass the bill in its current form.
