You are hurting Kenyans – Mudavadi tells Uhuru to suspend 2022 budget
Amani National Congress (ANC) party leader Musalia Mudavadi has asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to suspend the finance law that has affected prices of basic commodities including cooking oil, gas and the cost of internet.
Speaking during his tour of Nakuru County on Saturday, July 3,Mudavadi asked President Uhuru to suspend the Finance Act 2021 which came into effect on July 1 arguing that its implementation will burden Kenyans more especially at this time of Covid-19 pandemic.
“The government ought to look at ways of cushioning Kenyans against the devastating impact of Covid-19 on their livelihoods, not burdening them with taxes that further condemn them into abject poverty,” Mudavadi said.
The ANC party chief argued that while the government needs to raise money to fund its development projects and meet the recurrent expenditure, it should not do so by hitting the masses where it matters and pains most.
“Raising tax on gas will have disabling impact on the family kitchen and environment. This will make the life Kenyans worse than it is already,”Mudavadi who is on his two-day tour of Nakuru county where he was hosted by Governor Lee Linyajui.
To meet the 2021/2022 budget deficit of close to Sh1.6 trillion, Mudavadi avised President Uhuru's government to renegotiate its huge international and local debts, and reschedule the debts and inject the accrued money into SMEs to help jumpstart the ailing economy.
“Hunger is real in many parts of our County. Many families cannot afford a daily meal. People have no money in their pockets; the Covid-19 pandemic has impoverished many people who lost jobs or closed their small and medium businesses,” Mudavadi said.
Mudavadi further said that failure by government to release money to pay pending bills by counties is affecting the economy in the devolved units.
He added that many traders are battling depression since the current economic state is affecting the livelihoods of many families.
