Karua rejects key Finance Bill proposals, unveils PLP's alternative budget plan

People's Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua addressing on the finance bill 2027 on June 8, 2026. [Wilberforce Okwiri,Standard] 

People's Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua has rejected key proposals contained in the 2026 Finance Bill, arguing that the government is prioritising higher taxation over fiscal discipline and efficient use of public resources.

Addressing the media alongside business representatives and civil society groups, Karua outlined PLP's alternative economic plan, centred on spending restraint, support for productive sectors, and relief measures for households and businesses.

"The fundamental challenge facing us today is not a lack of resources. We are collecting taxes that can give us the services we deserve. What we lack is fiscal discipline. It is leadership that can be trusted," she said.

Karua argued that the proposed Finance Bill had heightened anxiety among Kenyans who increasingly associate the budget-making process with additional taxes rather than improved public services.

"Instead of hope, we anticipate new taxes, and we are not wrong. Instead of relief, more pain. Instead of accountability, we witness more waste, corruption, and misplaced priorities," she said.

She faulted the government for presenting taxation proposals without simultaneously tabling expenditure plans, saying Kenyans were being asked to shoulder a heavier tax burden without clarity on how the funds would be utilised.

"Both taxation measures and expenditure should be laid side by side for Kenyans to have enough time for public participation and to know exactly what tax you're being asked to pay, what it is going to do for you," she said.

Karua maintained that Kenya's economic challenges stem from poor leadership and spending choices rather than inadequate revenue collection.

Citing findings by the Auditor-General, she noted that more than Sh304 billion remains tied up in stalled projects across the country despite taxpayers having already financed them.

"These are our taxes put to waste. We must make all the money invested work for us. This is not evidence of insufficient revenue. It is evidence of poor leadership," she said.

The PLP leader said her administration would freeze the national budget at roughly last year's levels, rejecting plans to expand expenditure to nearly Sh5 trillion.

"Kenya Kwanza is having a happy time, boasting happily that this is the largest budget ever. It's also the budget with the largest deficit ever. A serious country tries to do a balanced budget. We should try as much as possible to spend what we raise," she said.

She noted that under the PLP proposal, non-essential government expenditure would be reduced by at least 60 per cent, with cuts targeting travel, entertainment, and other discretionary expenses.

Karua questioned the steady increase in State House allocations despite persistent shortages in public hospitals and underfunding in other essential services.

"Wasteful spending includes allocation to the State House. Last financial year, State House was allocated Sh10 billion. In the supplementary budget, they asked for another Sh7 billion. In the previous era, when Ruto was the Deputy President, the budget for State House was Sh5 billion. Why does it keep ballooning?" she posed.

She also criticised proposals she said would expand government monitoring of financial transactions, warning that ordinary Kenyans were increasingly being subjected to surveillance while major corruption scandals remained unresolved.

"Why is the government more aggressive in monitoring struggling Kenyans than it is in cutting excessive wastage? Why is it easier to track Mama Mboga than to stop inflated procurement?" she asked.

In her alternative budget framework, Karua proposed abolishing the housing levy, reducing Social Health Authority contributions to Sh500 per family, and strengthening oversight mechanisms within the health sector to curb corruption.

Healthcare and education featured prominently in the proposals, with Karua promising increased funding to restore adequate school capitation, improve infrastructure, and enhance working conditions for teachers and healthcare workers.

"Health and education are not expenditures; they are investments in national development," she said.

Agriculture would receive Sh285 billion under the proposed PLP budget to support affordable fertiliser, irrigation infrastructure, agricultural extension services, strategic grain reserves, and value-addition initiatives aimed at boosting farmers' incomes.

Karua opposed any increase in taxes targeting mobile money transfers, internet services, and digital platforms, arguing that such measures disproportionately affect young people trying to create livelihoods in the digital economy.

"We would not increase taxation on mobile money transfer, internet services, digital platforms, and online enterprises. Innovation should be encouraged, not punished. Creativity should be rewarded, not punished," she said.

Businesses, she argued, remain central to economic recovery and job creation, noting that the government must settle pending bills owed to suppliers and ease access to affordable credit.

"The controller of budget report shows Sh525 billion in pending bills. These unpaid obligations have crippled thousands of businesses, destroyed countless jobs, and even caused deaths," she said.

Her proposals come amid growing scrutiny of the proposed 2026 Finance Bill from opposition leaders, businesses, and sections of civil society who argue that the government has focused heavily on raising revenue without undertaking meaningful expenditure reforms.

For Karua, the debate over the Finance Bill reflects broader questions about governance and leadership.

"The suffering facing our nation today is not inevitable. It is the consequence of poor policy and poor choices in leadership. What leadership has created, better leadership can correct," she said.