Kathiani MP Robert Mbui has moved to turn President William Ruto’s income tax relief pledge into law, setting up a parliamentary push for an exemption that would remove workers earning below Sh30,000 from the tax net.
Mbui said he will table legislation to implement the proposal, which targets about 1.5 million salaried workers and was left out of the latest budget presentation, sharpening scrutiny over the government’s fiscal priorities.
“I am telling you we are going to propose what the President said, that people earning less than KSh30,000 should not be paying tax, we are going to propose it,” said Mbui.
The proposal traces back to comments by President Ruto during the National Prayer Breakfast in Nairobi, where he signalled support for removing low earners from the income tax bracket despite expected pressure on state revenue.
“We can even find a way so that all those earning KSh30,000 and less are left out of the tax bracket,” said William Ruto.
Ruto also acknowledged the fiscal strain linked to the plan, with Treasury estimates putting the potential revenue gap at about Sh40 billion.
“Some people in the Treasury came back to me and said this is going to be big, it is going to cost us KSh40 billion in this budget. I told them let us do it,” said Ruto.
The issue resurfaced after Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi left the exemption out of his 2026-2027 budget statement, prompting public expectations of relief to fade.
Mbadi later said the proposal remained under consideration.
“Even if it is not in the Finance Bill, it is not off the table. We want to assure you that the promise made by President Ruto and myself will be implemented. So wait for this,” said Mbadi.
The parliamentary push now shifts the debate back to the legislature, where lawmakers will weigh the cost of revenue loss against relief for low-income workers.
