Budget debate leaves hustlers a bit lost on impact of new taxes

National Assembly session soon after recess, June 6, 2023. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

A 'hustler' watching Wednesday's debate on the Finance Bill 2023 in Parliament must have been cheerful at first since every lawmaker claimed to be fighting for them, but ended up perplexed over who was truly on his side.

The argument from Kenya Kwanza Alliance MPs was that their colleagues in the opposition did not want hustlers to prosper, and hence their dissent of the proposed Housing Fund levy, a deduction that started out as a contribution, "not a tax," to a full-blown tax.