Make the public feel the benefit of raised taxes

The elite are concerned about increase in taxes. In fact, their grumbles have become a political statement. Many Kenyans are debating the merits and trying in their own way to push back on additional taxes.

And yet, the real hustlers are confused. They appear lost. While in Kibera where I grew up, I visited a woman's house for evening porridge. The mama had questions. She spoke in Luo, "Jatelo what is this tax we hear about?"

I responded, "Nyakano what do you think?" Then she added: "If it does not bring food on my table, I don't care. We have suffered enough. There are no jobs, we can't afford food and Sh1,000 is like Sh100 nowadays."

Seemingly dejected, she continued: "We don't even see where those taxes go. They steal all that money. It makes no difference in my life." I asked her, "Who steals all that money?" She argued that it's the "big people."

Like many ordinary Kenyans, she cares more about rising cost of basic commodities and says the government should be focusing on how to make life easy for mwananchi. For instance, unga now retails at Sh220 per 2kg, up from Ksh110 last year, and sugar at Sh140 per kilo up from Sh100. Not to mention the cost of cooking oil and paraffin.

From what I gather, the real hustlers don't understand where the money goes. According to a research by Glassdoor, a firm that connects job seekers and potential employers worldwide, an average security guard in Kenya earns Sh15,000, before NSSF and NHIF deductions. This man is left with about Sh13,000 which isn't enough to cater for his needs. Then, the goods Mama mboga buys are taxed at 16 per cent VAT. The poor are truly crying.

The poor say they expect President Ruto and government mandarins, as they encourage Kenyans to honour their tax obligations, to make it clear what they will get in return. If the status-quo, that of the public not seeing benefits of taxation, remains then we've lost it.

If the garbage truck will come to pick takataka in our slums, then we're on the right path. If a poor woman from Kibera with a sick baby cannot not access healthcare, we are doomed to fail. When our hospitals lack medicines and medics - where are the taxes going?

The answer? A huge percentage of our national budget goes to wage bill and travel. For instance, we had over 100 delegates attend the COP27 climate summit, more than the host, Egypt. We have to look ourselves squarely in the eye and ask; can we afford such run-away reoccurring expenditure?

Can we afford a costly National Assembly, Senate, Country Governments, Parastatals at the expense of basic services? Are we mortgaging our children's future by misplaced spending priorities?

The poor are suffering and they have reached the boiling point. President Ruto ought to re-look the narrative that money will come back to people's pockets.

The writer, is founder and CEO of Shofco, a member of USAid advisory board