Now we know why All Saints Cathedral Provost Dr. Sammy Wainaina is being transferred to England to be the Advisor for Anglican Communion Affairs for the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Ruto and his buddies are terrified of the bravery and honesty of this religious man who speaks the language of great church leaders like Rev. Timothy Njoya and others who were not afraid to tell President Moi the truth and demand respect for human rights in Kenya.
Dr. Wainaina, the church leader is not singing Bwana Asifiwe to Ruto at State House. That is a sin against Ruto’s God. He had to pay for it. He is being sent to England by his own church with immediate effect. Orders from above.
Speaking on Citizen TV’s JKLive Show on Wednesday, Dr. Wainaina criticised the government’s plan to force people in the formal workforce to contribute a 3 percent housing levy, saying Kenyans should reject the move.
According to the outspoken clergyman, the so-called housing levy should be voluntary if indeed it is not a tax as claimed by the government.
“Let the government come and come out clearly; what are they asking Kenyans to do? Is that a tax? If it is then they are overtaxing Kenyans. But if you are calling it a savings then you don’t legislate; it is voluntary. Just like the Hustler Fund; it is a voluntary thing. You take it if you want it,” he said.
He went ahead to suggest that if indeed the government intended to improve the housing conditions in the country, it should create a conducive environment for investors instead of forcing citizens to own houses.
“Am not an economist or land specialist but what governments do is create an environment where businesses can thrive. Allow the public sector to do business; they generate wealth, they pay taxes and then the government offers infrastructure… Roads, water, electricity,” said Wainaina.
“…No government in the world builds houses for its own citizens. Their work is to create environments for business and trade to work then provide infrastructure.”
The clergyman went ahead to state that Kenyans should rise up and reject the plan, further calling on Members of Parliament to be the citizens’ defenders by not allowing the government to force its agenda on the electorate.
“If 3 percent is Ksh.30,000 for example, how long will I have to pay to own a home? It will take ages. My children might not even see it. Today, I heard the Minister say that if you don’t want the house you can give it to your children but who said I can’t provide houses for my children and again with a good environment my children will also work hard and find their own solutions during their time,” Wainaina said.
He went on: “If the government pushes this say no to it. This country doesn’t belong to the government. The sovereignty of this country is on its people and we can say no. And if any Member of Parliament supports this, don’t elect them. Take your constitutional right to say no. “
In total confusion now with the budget. William Ruto is sending all his cabinet bootleg boys running mad all over the country trying to “explain” the 2023/24 budget in simple language that they think Kenyans will consume, but it is just getting harder for Ruto. Nobody is buying his cooked-up budget that puts everybody at a higher tax on everything.
Today it was Musalia Mudavadi at pains trying to sell the rotten chicken to Kenyans and that is a tough thing to do, even to very hungry people.
Mudavadi’s appeal was that Kenyans should stop politicizing the Ruto budget and tax plans. That is really silly even by Mudavadi’s standards.
William Ruto has put a budget in parliament for Kenyans to debate and Ruto says his budget is based on the political manifesto he presented to Kenyans. That is the definition of politics. How on earth can the budget of a government that wants to impose huge taxes on Kenyans be non-political?
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has urged Kenyans to stop politicizing the Finance Bill 2023 saying it is part of fixing the sorry state of the economy.
Mudavadi made the remarks as he stated the Government has to make tough decisions and that it will take time to remedy the economic situation in the country.
“We are working towards tightening the loose ends and sealing the loop-holes in procurement processes and procedures. The Finance Bill 2023 is proposing some fundamental measures that will help in addressing the bottle-necks that have been riddled by outrageous procurement processes where what you think has been procured cheaply turns to be very expensive in the long run,” he said.
Citing his previous experiences in government, Mudavadi said the question of Value Added Tax (VAT) has been mis-conceptualized and that the proposals made in the Finance Bill 2023, which has attracted mixed responses, should cure the problem once and for all.
“The Government has shifted its subsidy policy from consumption to production. The few beneficiaries on the consumption side are crying out loud. For the Government, the principle of majority beneficiary applies, and through the Finance Bill, the Government proposes to provide exemptions under the VAT Act for fertilizers and inputs or raw materials locally purchased or imported by manufacturers of fertilizers. This will lower the cost of fertilizer, which will in turn lower the cost of production,” explained Mudavadi.
The Prime CS reiterated that President William Ruto’s administration has taken a bold step towards broadening the tax base in order for the nation to be able to boost its revenue.
“This is the only way we will be able to boost agricultural sector operations, enhance food production and create jobs for us to stir the economic growth,” he said Mudavadi.
He made the remarks in Mombasa when he presided over the 40th Annual seminar for the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK).
Mudavadi urged Kenyans to remain steadfast as the government is burning the midnight oil to ensure it corrects the drain, pain, and strain on the citizen’s livelihoods.
“I have continuously cautioned Kenyans to gird themselves for hard times now and in the near future. As a government, we do not want to lie and give false hope and promises. I am being pragmatic, realistic, and forthright in my assessment, that resuscitation of the economy will take at least two years or thereabout,” said Mudavadi.
“We all know things went bad before Kenya Kwanza took over and are still bad as we speak today. This experience should prompt us to work together to mitigate the dire situation,” said Mudavadi.
So here is Mudavadi, Ruto’s big boy talking politics about KK and the collapsing Ruto budget and he is telling Kenyans not to talk politics about their budget. Kenyans are not that dumb my friend. You should know that by now.
Mudavadi is telling Kenyans that they will reduce the price of producing food and once that food is in the market they will increase the food price by forcing a 16% VAT on that food and everything else. Maybe that makes sense to them but nobody else understands what they are talking about.
Then Ruto sent his Principal Secretary in Housing, Mr. Hinga to do his own fake explanations about their housing ideas which is turning into a nightmare for Ruto. It is not working.
“Yes, we have the resolutions to implement urban housing, but where is the money for doing that, talk is cheap, we meet every year and have a lot of discussions, but I have a question, how are we going to fund the urban agenda?” Hinga said.
“Let this meeting be on how we fund the urban agenda lest we may have missed the point, and if we don’t fund this agenda what kind of country are we going to have? “he added.
We need to up our voices on how to fund the urbanization agenda. Isn’t it ironic that most of the country’s wealth is generated in urban areas but we have the urban poor. We aren’t bankrupting our economy when we ask for funds of this topical issue.
Just this weekend Ruto took his little school boys and girls called the cabinet under his regime to a busy kids’ classroom work at State House. What did they learn? That is what they are supposed to feed the Kenyan public. That is their job for Ruto.
What did this William Ruto cabinet learn from him at State House in this very highly publicized Ruto pen-and-paper meeting with Kenya Kwanza lawmakers? They seem to be scribbling a lot of stuff profusely in the handbooks and looking intensely at something. Anything good came from this for the cabinet to come convince Kenyans to pay Ruto’s taxes and levies? Talk about a clown show. It is live now.
They could take this to TV as a comedy show and make a lot of money to cover their tax demands on Kenyans. Where is Ojwang Hatari and vioja mahakamani crew when Ruto needs them desperately?
This could be part of the theatrics in the Ruto comedy show. How fitting.
