Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Muthoni Passaris has shared her thoughts about the Finance Bill, 2024 which has attracted a lot of criticism from Kenyans.
The Bill, sponsored by the Treasury, has introduced a raft of taxes, including bread tax, boda boda tax, Mpesa tax, and bank transaction tax, among other taxes.
However, giving her views on Thursday, Passaris, who was elected on the Orange Democratic Movement party ticket, said she wants the 5 percent withholding tax on the interest income earned from infrastructure bonds increased to 20 percent.
This, she argued, will punish banks, Saccos, and Pension Funds and deter them from investing all money in the government’s infrastructure bonds at the expense of doing business with common Kenyans and the private sector.
“In my opinion, the proposed 5% withholding tax on the interest income earned from infrastructure bonds should be increased to 20% to completely bar commercial banks, pension funds, and Saccos from lending to the government.
“They ought to concentrate on businesses, not the government,” she stated.
While defending Finance Bill 2024, Passaris explained that the country had pending bills which are suffocating counties.
“Now is the time to seriously tighten the belt and show it by action.
“No-go zones are; the health, education and security sectors.
“Healthy and skilled people in a secure environment are more productive.
“A healthy nation is a wealthy nation,” she said.
