President William Ruto says his tax collection measures to fund the country's budget are guided by the formula and execution methods used by former President Mwai Kibaki.
Speaking at Sagana State Lodge on Sunday, President Ruto defended his tax policy asserting that these taxes imposed on Kenyans will save the country from debt.
He said the taxes will be used to increase the country's revenue that would otherwise have been sourced from borrowing.
"We have a teacher who has taught us this work. When President Mwai Kibaki was sworn in as the president, we used to collect taxes worth 200 billion as a country. He said we should pay taxes. He pushed us to a point that when he left the office after 10 years, we had moved from Sh200 billion to Sh1 Trillion," Ruto said.
"Now, do you think I would go astray and not follow in his footsteps where he taught us that a country is built on taxes and not debts?"
Ruto said he instructed the Chairman of the National Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee, Ndindi Njoro, that any budget that includes debt should not be taken to the Parliament.
"We removed debts of about half a trillion in the budget," Ruto said.
"We agreed that we must build this country on a solid foundation. Not on the foundation of debt. We are building our country on the solid foundation of our economy, built around the taxes we raise."
President Ruto exuded confidence that his policies will be beneficial in the coming years.
On June 26, President William Ruto assented to the Finance Bill 2023 after lawmakers approved tax measures aimed at raising the Sh.6 trillion budget.
Sh3.6 trillion in the budget will be seeking to maintain a delicate balancing act between debt servicing and stabilizing the economy.
In the budget proposals, Sh1.5 trillion has been earmarked for recurrent expenditure, Sh718 billion for development while Sh986 billion will go into servicing public debt.
This now meant that Kenyans would have to dig deeper into their pockets, to fund the president's first budget as Head of State.
