Throw out fuel levy proposals, Orengo says

Leader of the Minority in the Senate James Orengo has appealed to the National Assembly to reject President Uhuru Kenyatta’s proposals on the Finance Bill, 2018.

Mr Orengo said the increase in tax on petroleum products is against the wishes of Kenyans.

“Parliament is not an extension of the Executive. Budget- making is the preserve of the National Assembly. Article 115 allows Parliament to reject the reservation of the President and suspend taxation on petroleum for the next two years. I urge MPs to veto the decisions of the President,” Mr Orengo said.

He said that former President Mwai Kibaki took over the country when it was reeling from excessive debt.

Total debt stood at Sh5.039 trillion this June, up from Sh2.3 trillion in June 2014 during Mr Kenyatta’s first term as president. The Treasury is targeting to raise Sh1.69 trillion from taxes in the year ending June 2019, with debt repayments budgeted at Sh870.24 billion.

On Thursday Mr Kenyatta rejected a Finance Bill that sought to postpone the tax and proposed a cut to eight per cent from 16 per cent.

Implementation of the new VAT on fuel is key to the government’s plan to shrink the fiscal deficit while funding essential programmes.

The government would still face funding gaps after the new, lower VAT rate on fuel, Mr Kenyatta said, adding that he had proposed cuts to the government’s spending plan across the board.

Mr Orengo said the President should find new ways of raising revenue including ending standard gauge railway subsidies of up to Sh25 million per day.

“President Kibaki exercised prudence in spending. We are now being pushed to the tax and spent era. This will support extravagant excesses of the Jubilee government,” he said.