To succeed as President you have to obey the Constitution and other Kenyan laws, William Ruto has been told. While it could have started as a promise when he took the oath of office or a shrill voice in homes, the call is growing louder.
And the Finance Bill 2023 has added fuel to the embers of fire. Experts are poking holes in the piece of taxation law in their reviews and petitioning MPs to reject the Bill. Indeed, politicians are in a no-holds-barred fight to force the President into upholding the Constitution while he is seeking to grow tax revenues.
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah, a court battle-hardened defender of the rule of law who is now a lawmaker, told President Ruto to his face that the law is supreme.
“You are my friend, but I have a better friend in the Constitution,” Mr Omtatah, said at a presidential function while questioning the Financial Bill 2023 that has generated a heated debate. The Senator told the President he is ready to challenge the Bill in a court of law.
Kenyans are waiting to see if the President will listen to such advice and remember that he swore to respect and obey the law.
Among other things, the pressure is building on the President to recall the Bill and run a thorough review of the piece of law if he were to obey the law, listen to the cries of the poor voters he promised to protect and hear employers who are the job creators.
Sadly, for many countries and citizens—in whom power resides— many a politician has promised heaven while looking for votes but ended up becoming bullies or dictators who muscle their way into misrule through manipulation of Parliament and other arms of government.
Will Dr Ruto listen to warnings of the defenders of the law and do the right thing?
Politician and lawyer Miguna has asked the President to stop being “defensive” and stop arguing with the people about this Bill that has generated an unprecedented controversy.
When looking for votes to become Kenya’s fifth, Dr Ruto promised to adhere to the Constitution and uplift the standards of the rank and file using the bottom-up approach.
Among other things, he fought against “politics of rewarding cronies with big posts”, but immediately he started forming his government, he retained the chief administrative secretary (CAS) from Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime. He unveiled a huge team of CASs, but they can’t work because there is a court case stopping them from assuming office.
Among other problem sections of the Finance Bill, the unbridled push to pass a law that will take away a whole three percent of the basic pay of every worker to create a housing fund has been deemed unconstitutional because it takes away the freedom of choice.
Although the Kenya Kwanza government has promised to build low-cost houses, critics have said it was coming at the wrong time when many households were living from hand to mouth due to the skyrocketing cost of living.
Worse, the Bill is heavy laden with proposals to raise taxes and broaden the tax base as the government seeks to raise more than Sh2.5 trillion from tax revenues to fund the Ruto administration’s first budget of Sh3.6 trillion.
Although the government may push through with this unpopular Bill thanks to the heightened campaigns, sober voices are warning that the government may end collecting more taxes but killing jobs through reduced hiring thanks to the high cost of doing business.
Employers, the church, workers and think tanks have poked holes in the Bill, saying it was insensitive to the plight of common man or ‘hustlers’ as Kenya Kwanza calls the many people surviving on menial jobs.
Dr Miguna urged the President to postpone the implementation of the housing levy and return to the drawing board by addressing what is urgent.
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