#Rejectfinancebill2024 can be described as more than just a hashtag.

Over the past week, this term has been used to unite people from all walks of life within the country with one common aim, to lobby for the instant death of the finance bill when it is tabled in the parliament today.

“This government does not care if you live or die” these were the sentiments of Shikoh Kihika of the Ubuntu Creative Space at Tribeless youth citing the finance bill as oppressive to the common mwananchi.

“When will we ever sit and say our taxes work for us? What exactly is this obsession of increasing taxes yet we do not see the value of the taxation. When you increase the budget allocation for the office of the First Lady and that of the wife of the deputy president how does this translate to the common mwananchi."

Shikoh Kihika

Photo credit: PURITY KINUTHIA/MTAA WANGU

Ms Kihika notes how increasing taxes on basic items such as sanitary pads and diapers yet there are those who cannot afford them, would not help the country.

She lamented how most of those working in Nakuru County earn between sh.10,000- sh. 30,000. Hence, should the bill be effected, they will be taking home a small fraction of what they worked for tirelessly.

Jim Gatani, a model and actor, says “hawa majamaa wanataka kutumaliza”.

“The main aim of taxation worldwide is to finance the government so as to ensure that the basic commodities become cheaper for all to afford. But in this punitive bill you will find that these basic commodities will be taxed more. The same mama mbogas and boda boda people that the government swore to protect are the ones bearing the biggest brunt of it all” he says.

Gatani notes that as a model it is already a slippery slope when it comes to how much they are being taxed citing that in the current time five percent is going to withholding tax and another 20 percent will be deducted by the company.

“In the finance bill the withholding tax is set to increase from five percent to 15 percent meaning that at the end of the day what I will be taking home 65% percent of my total earning, yet when I go to buy bread, you will also have doubled the taxation and I will have to pay rent and so on. As a young upcoming creative, how am I supposed to survive?” he asks.

Willie Oeba agrees with the sentiments of the two, his main concern being how this money is spent.

Willie Oeba in a past performance. The spoken word king will be marking 10 years in the industry.

Photo credit: COURTESY

“Most of this money is usually spent on recurrent expenditure and servicing loans and so there are no new developments that the common mwananchi will look at and say that, indeed I can see where my money is going” he begins.

Oeba highlights the issue of gentrification where we find that with the building of modern buildings and housing the cities continue becoming developed at the expense of the poor.

“In the finance bill they call it “housing levy”. The government takes up prime land, for example in Nakuru the land opposite Taidys Hotel, where you find they will build modern houses all from the money they get from the middle class and low-income earners only for the houses to be bought by the wealthy. So in real sense there is no place that outlines in detail how the common mwananchi will benefit from this. So, the poor will remain poor,” he notes.

All eyes now turn to parliament today to see what direction the legislators will take.

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Joseph Openda