President William Ruto has assured that people with political connections will also pay taxes like the rest of Kenyans.
The President regretted that previous regimes eliminated taxes for people who were in power, their families and business associates.
Ruto said the government would end its reliance on borrowing to meet its budget obligations if all Kenyans paid taxes.
“Kenya will not be the Animal Farm. Everybody will pay taxes big or small,” the Head of State vowed.
The President promised to lead by example by paying all that is dues to the taxman.
“I will be number one to pay followed by my deputy Rigathi Gachagua. I want to assure Kenyans that the rich and politicians will not evade taxes,” he said.
Ruto made the remarks during an interdenominational church service at Kerugoya Stadium, Kirinyaga, on Sunday.
On January 15, Ruto said his administration will turn down requests for tax waivers due to pressing development needs.
“With all these development initiatives it will be difficult to finance our programs if we take that route,” said Ruto.
Addressing the faithful in Kirinyaga, the President said he wants to eliminate “the cancer of debt that is threatening to destabilise the economy.”
“Our first assignment is to consolidate our economy to make sure it is on sound footing. The government will not favour anyone because we are keen on ending dirty politics,” he said.
“Every citizen will be treated equally irrespective of how they voted because we are a democratic country. We will serve all Kenyans equally.”
Kenya’s annual revenue collections currently stand at Sh2 trillion.
The country crossed the Sh2 trillion mark in July 2020 when the Kenya Revenue Authority reported a Sh2,031 trillion collection in Financial Year 2021/2022.
Ruto is seeking to expand annual revenue collections to Sh5 trillion by 2027 as part of efforts to tame debt.
