County citizens are overburdened

I see the wisdom in an ancient saying in my local dialect that states:  ‘you cannot squeeze water out of dried linen.’ The spate of violence and outrage in a number of counties today is testimony that citizens are increasingly becoming apprehensive of decisions made by their elected leadership. Life  has  become  unbearable to all, even  the  person  who  earns  a  decent income. This however does not seem to tinker the resolve of the leaders to squeeze more money from the already overburdened citizen. It began with the VAT bill, then NSSF, now the finance bills which seek to tax chicken and dead bodies! 

Whilst we acknowledge the need for county governments to raise sufficient revenue to deliver quality services, we have reason to frown at the myopia expressed by the leadership. Someone must educate them that the willingness of citizens to pay taxes will not be borne by coercion, but persuasion and  convincing  that  what  is  raised  will  be  put  to  good  use and benefit them. Previous experience has shown that a significant share of governments’ revenue goes to service recurrent expenditure (largely to service lavish ways of politicians) if not lost to corruption at the expense of development. This narrative will not inspire citizens to give more and willingly. This experience can hardly spur real economic growth that would help majority climb out of absolute poverty.

In the absence of real economic growth, costs of living spiral to unbearable spheres, further widening the poverty gap and perpetuating inequality. Needless to say,  if people enjoy a reasonable amount of income, and have confidence that their contribution through taxes  is  spurring  development,  the  resistance  to paying  taxes  would be  minimized significantly.

Our political elites must be challenged to rethink their priorities. First, they ought to seal  all  the  holes  in  the  pocket  before  sending  more  cash  in  there. Slaying the dragon of corruption and wasteful spending must be top on the agenda. Second, government must walk the talk in cutting down on the wage bill. Apparently this debate has now been flanked to the periphery as other issues take precedence. It is time to smoke out all the ghost workers and resize the public service to a manageable figure. Third, corporates must pay their fair share of taxes and minimize unnecessary incentives such as tax holidays and exemptions. Why extend this unnecessary generosity to multinationals when we are clearly cash strapped and are proposing to tax local businesses even more!? Doesn’t this engender unfair competition that further edges out local businesses?

County governments must be cautious. There is good reason to deliberately move slowly. Create an enabling environment that will bolster local businesses to flourish, and the average Kenyan to make a reasonable amount of income. Endeavour to put in place reliable institutions/ policies in order to ensure that the wealth generated trickles down to the most vulnerable members of the society and the public at large. This coupled with satisfactory levels of public service delivery, will endear you to the citizens and hence their willingness to pay taxes. But until this becomes a reality, be prepared for a rough ride. The riots in the few counties are just but the beginning and the likelihood of a spill over is more than real.  

By David Barissa Ringa
International Campaigner - Land Grabs
[email protected]