The Proposal To Increase Fuel Tax Had Been Drafted By The Previous Govt
The Mt Kenya Times 
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- I remember honorable John Michuki, one of the powerful cabinet minister in President Mwai Kibaki government, saying. “You cannot plant today and expect to harvest tomorrow. We urge you to tighten your belt and give us time. President Kibaki is on the right course. He is working hard to return the economy back on track. You will start to reap the fruits in coming months”.
- It took Kibaki two years to somehow steady the ship.
- As we recall, President Kibaki had made a raft of promises during the campaigns. He would not fulfill a good number of them within the timelines he had set out.
The Finance Bill, 2023 continues to elicit mixed reactions following the revelation that the proposal to increase fuel tax is one of its key highlights.
Those opposed to it are training their gun on President William Ruto. During the campaign, Dr Ruto had promised to bring down the cost of living if he wins the elections.
Today, the story is different. We are being overtaxed. If the fuel price goes up, a new burden will be added on our shoulder. The food prices and bus-fares would go up.
The fuel provide the energy used in the industries and in transportation sector.
To me, these complaints were not new. The presidents of the previous governments faced similar accusations and this would start just a few months after ascending to power.
I remember honorable John Michuki, one of the powerful cabinet minister in President Mwai Kibaki government, saying. “You cannot plant today and expect to harvest tomorrow. We urge you to tighten your belt and give us time. President Kibaki is on the right course. He is working hard to return the economy back on track. You will start to reap the fruits in coming months”.
It took Kibaki two years to somehow steady the ship.
As we recall, President Kibaki had made a raft of promises during the campaigns. He would not fulfill a good number of them within the timelines he had set out.
For others, he had not fulfilled them by time he retired after serving his two-five-year terms.
When it came power, the story was the same for the Jubilee government.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto kept assuring Kenyans that they were committed to walk the talk.
As you can see, we are on the right track. They enumerated what they had achieved so far.
Dr William Ruto, who is now at the helm of power, is encountering similar public back rash.
If you ask me, he has made bold steps and strides in terms of fulfilling the pre-election pledges.
He has remained to his word of using a different strategy to fix economy.
Upon taking the oath of office, he immediately removed subsidy programme.
He said the subsidies were being used as conduit of looting public coffers.
The billions allocated by the National Treasury ended up lining up the pockets of super-rich cartels-cronies and friends of the two principals of the ‘handshake government’.
The public never benefited. To demonstrate this, Sh7 billion had been allocated for Unga subsidy in the eve of 2022 polls.
Kenyans had been told the price would drop to Sh100 per 2kg packet. That Unga was only seen for one day and it only reached a few parts of the country. The lucky ones got only one packet.
The fuel subsidy gobbled up more billions.
The fuel price would come down for just one or two weeks and then go up.
The directors and managers of multinational petroleum companies reportedly shared the money.
Many believed a huge chunk of it would go to their bosses. And part of the loot was used to bank-roll the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition campaigns.
It is worth to note this. Despite fuel subsidy being in place, the ‘handshake’ government led by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his partner Raila Odinga supported the proposal to increase fuel tax.
This would have seen the petroleum products being subjected to 16 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT), up from 8 per cent.
The duo’s efforts however did not bear the fruits. The proposal was shoot down.
President Kenyatta had already fallout with his deputy. This demonstrated the latter was a force to reckon with. The members supporting him carried the day.
Putting politics aside, Dr Ruto had a good reason to reject the proposal.
The fuel subsidy was in place. So, how do you resort to doubling this tax? This was unfair.
For now, it seems the proposal to increase VAT on fuel is enjoying the blessings of President William Ruto.
I think this is part of his strategy to fix our economy. He has been telling us that borrowing is a bad idea.
Our economy has stagnated because 65 per cent of revenues the government collected was used to service foreign loans.
Listening to remarks attributed to Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, the message is clear. As Kenyans, we should tighten our belt. The economy is being fixed. This will not take long. You will have money in your pocket.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political analyst based in Nairobi
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