Africa-Press – Kenya. President William Ruto has told Kenyans point blank that taxes will not be lowered anytime soon.
In a press conference with several media houses on Sunday at State House, Nairobi, Ruto said he cannot lower taxes because the government will grind to a halt.
The Head of State said the country is facing a tough economic time owing to the current debt situation that has necessitated the existing taxes.
“In every Sh10 that I am collecting, Seven go to taxes. Do you want me to go the direction other countries are going by defaulting on loans?” he said.
“While it is true that tomorrow I can say let us reduce the taxes, it is also true that tomorrow for every Sh10 I collect, Sh7 goes to paying debt.”
President Ruto said the only option is for Kenyans to pay the taxes for the country to remain afloat.
He said it is from the collected taxes that they can meet the day-to-day operation of the government.
“Those taxes we are collecting we have the education to fund, Sh7 to 10 to pay the debt which William Ruto did not accumulate,” Ruto said.
“Are you telling me to tell teachers that I have no salary for them this month because I had to reduce the taxes on fuel?” he posed.
President Ruto assured Kenyans that he country is finding its balance and is now out of debt distress.
“That is the truth. If I wasn’t president, the kind of decisions I have made, very difficult, Kenya would not have been the same. Very painful decisions, I know they will cost me, but it is better to make them now than get Kenya into debt distress,” he said.
Ruto added that there are countries that have fallen into a debt trap, a situation he would not wish for Kenya.
“There are almost eight countries in our continent including one that went into debt distress that I won’t mention. That is the worst thing that can happen to any country,” he said.
“The difficult part is still there and we still have to navigate.”
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