President Uhuru Kenyatta’s proposed changes to Finance Bill 2018 have finally sailed through after Members of Parliament (MPs) failed to raise the numbers needed to reverse it.
The Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi had suspended the sitting for 15 minutes for the review after MPs had disputed earlier results.
Speaker Muturi confirmed that there were 215 MPs in the House, a number he said did not meet the threshold for a vote.
According to the Kenyan law, at least 233 of the 349 MPs must be in the House before any voting on such matter is done.
Some MPs that opposed the imposition of 8% VAT on petroleum products engaged in a shouting match amid anti-majority leader Aden Duale slogans, protests and chants.
Kenyans should brace themselves for hard economic times as sending money via mobile money transfer service will be more expensive.
The price of super petrol will now be expected drop to Sh118 from Sh127.8 per litre in Nairobi, while that of diesel will drop to Sh107 from Sh115.
Kerosene will go down to Sh90.89 from Sh97.41.
It will also be painful withdrawing cash from an ATM, transferring money from your bank account into your mobile money wallet or just depositing a banker’s cheque for your child’s school fees after the Government proposed doubling taxes on all bank as well as mobile money transactions.
Time spent on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Whatsapp or Twitter will be more precious, as tax changes will see the cost of Internet bundles go up.
President Uhuru said last week the Finance Bill 2018 fell short of acceptable threshold as it only protected the status quo and sacrificed the bigger vision.
Easy path “It took the easy path, instead of rising to the challenges of our time. It was good politics, but bad leadership,” said Uhuru.
The ODM chunk of the National Super Alliance on Tuesday (18/09/2018) supported the proposal by the President to slash VAT.
The decision was reached at after an ODM parliamentary group meeting at Orange House, Nairobi, chaired by party leader Raila Odinga.
“We feel the need to address the suffering of the people while also ensuring development is delivered,” said National Assembly Minority Whip Junet Mohammed.
NASA urged Government to recover money from the proceeds of corruption besides taming its penchant for starting projects some of which end up stalling.
