PETER KIMANI} seriously speaking

The forum where truth is well told

pete.kimani@gmail.com

Top athletes, some of the richest folks in our midst, do not want to pay tax for a simple reason: the State does not invest in their welfare.

I share their sentiment; after all, they do not need superhighways to practise. All they need are dust tracks; the more pristine, the better.

They then get coaches to guide them privately and agents who secure them lucrative running deals abroad. Once these specialists are paid for their trouble, and taxes in countries where they compete are docked off, the athletes are left with peanuts.

If the Government insists on taxing their meagre earnings, the athletes say they will choose to run for other countries where tax regimes are more athlete-friendly.

I do not think that is a bad idea at all; as a matter of fact, they should try running for Qatar, where some of their compatriots defected years back.

Besides enjoying virtual tax exemption, the athletes were promised lifetime pensions once they retired.

Surprisingly, most of them returned home quietly, so “vacancies” must be available in the Gulf nation.

Once they move there, the stingy athletes will appreciate what Kenya has given to them for free, and what’s worth a lot more than the few coins they want to deny their motherland.