Leaders allied to Azimio and those supporting Deputy President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza read from different scripts on the budget presented yesterday in the National Assembly.
Ruto’s allies termed the President’s last budget as “pro-business” as their rivals lauded it.
Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah said it fell short of expectations as it’s not “pro-people”. He claimed that the National Treasury CS Ukur Yatani gave priority to businesses and offered no direct measures to cushion the ordinary person from inflation.
“There’s nothing to do with the two million jobs that were lost during the pandemic. The Budget and Appropriations Committee must sit down and work on the estimates, rationalise them and make sense out of them,” he said.
Dismissed Treasury’s projection
Mr Ichung’wah added he will not support any tax proposals that burden taxpayers more. He dismissed the Treasury’s projection of Sh2.14 trillion from local revenue, saying it is an unrealistic target in an electioneering period.
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro said it’s the worst budget under President Kenyatta, adding that Kenyans have been subjected to suffering due to misuse of resources and over-borrowing by the Treasury.
“Kenyans are now being taxed more to fund unnecessary things such as the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), which has been declared illegal,” he said.
Former majority leader Aden Duale said there have been efforts by the Executive to usurp the powers of Parliament in the budget-making process.
“The entire budget process is flawed. It is sad that this House has abdicated its role in budget-making to the Executive that wants to control the activities of Parliament,” he said.
Optimistic budget
On the other hand, the Azimio brigade said it is an optimistic budget. Uriri MP Mark Nyamita, who sits in the budget committee, backed the proposals noting the revenue projections are realistic.
“I’m not worried about this budget because I know the next regime will immediately bring a supplementary budget so that it can finance its activities,” he said.
He admitted that the cost of living is high and many Kenyans are suffering but attributed this to the ongoing drought.
Kitui Central MP Makali Mulu said it is upon MPs to ensure that taxes on basic commodities like gas, milk and fuel are not raised.
Tongaren MP Eseli Simiyu termed the budget well-balanced.
“I liked the proactive move by the government to provide funds for fertiliser and the security sector. The government tried to strike a balance in all sectors since many economies were ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said. BY DAILY NATION