Zero-interest bread is not a solution, suspend the entire financial law

Peter Salasya, MP for Mumias East, believes the government’s move to remove some controversial clauses from the Finance Bill 2024 does not solve the problems of ordinary Kenyans.

Shortly after Kenya’s Kwanza government scrapped the proposed 16 percent value added tax on some staple foods, including bread, the MP said the debate on the Finance Bill 2024 should be dropped and the most pressing concerns related to the Finance Bill 2023 should be addressed first.

“Whatever has been said is just hot air. The way this finance bill has been packaged, Kenyans do not want it, that is the reality. Abolishing the bread tax alone is not the solution. Abolishing the eco-tax on certain things will not bring a solution,” the MP said.

He spoke ahead of the presentation of the report on the Finance Bill 2024 by the Finance Committee of the National Assembly.

“We want the Finance Bill 2023 (now an Act) to continue to burden Kenyans. It is like climbing the ladder and when you reach the top, another ladder is added,” Salasya said.

“This matter should be put on hold and given back to the people. If the President was honest enough with Kenyans and could listen to them, he should have said that we are cutting some taxes in the Finance Bill 2023.”

The Finance Committee informed the Kenya Kwanza parliamentary group of its report on Tuesday and announced that several tax proposals had been deleted from the bill.

The committee, chaired by Molo MP Kimani Kuria, said it had listened to Kenyans and that the public hearings had not been a wasted exercise.

He informed the country that the proposed 16 percent value added tax on bread, sugarcane transportation, financial services and foreign exchange transactions, excise tax on vegetable oil and 2.5 percent motor vehicle tax had been dropped.

He also said that the eco-tax, which was originally supposed to be levied on items such as diapers, had also been dropped and would now only be levied on imported manufactured products.

This, he explained, is intended to protect locally produced goods, increase Kenya’s production capacity, create jobs and save foreign currency.

“Consequently, locally manufactured products such as sanitary napkins, diapers, telephones, computers, tires and motorcycles are not subject to the pollution tax,” Kuria said.

Debate on the bill is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, with the vote scheduled for Tuesday, June 25.