Kenya risks disrupting the relative peace it has enjoyed if the increased cost of living caused by the increase in taxes is not sorted, MUHURI has warned.
Officials of the Muslims for Human Rights lobby group on Friday said: "the tax burden will soon break the camel’s back."
"Peace and hunger do not go together. There can never be peace when people are forced to either pay through the nose to get a meal or go hungry," chairman Khelef Khalifa said.
He spoke during a procession to mark the International Peace Day and also celebrate the organization’s 21st anniversary.
MPs on Thursday lost their fight to block the implementation of an eight per cent VAT on petroleum products.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed into law, the Finance Bill, 2018, which effects the new tax measures.
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The changes will effectively result in an increase in prices of basic commodities like sugar, maize flour, among others.
The World Bank, in its latest data on poverty rates, shows that 17.4 million Kenyans live on less than Sh92 a day.
This is Sh100 below the International Poverty Line set at Sh191 per person per day.
Khalifa and Muhuri executive director Hassan Abdile said the government should take the matter seriously for the sake of the country’s peace.
They said increasing the tax by eight per cent is not the solution to the debt that the country has immersed itself into.
"The problem is corruption. Deal firmly with corruption and you will not have top overburden the taxpayers with huge taxes," said Khalifa.
The two said the government is wasteful and the tax burden only serves to widen the gap between the poor and the rich in the country.
This gap, they warned, is dangerous to peace in the country.
"Bad things are happening in our country. How do we talk about peace when people are miserable?" posed Abdille.
The human rights defenders matched from Uhuru Gardens to Makadara ground sin Mombasa chanting freedom songs.
They said time has come for Kenyans to say enough is enough.
"Kenyans must decide. The government will not stop overburdening you with taxes if you keep quiet. We must take a stand and go to the streets," Khalifa said.
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