Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit has called out President William Ruto for failing to address high cost of living in the country.
The head of ACK in the country while addressing the media, expressed concerns that the government was over burdening its citizens with taxes.
Moreover, Sapit asked Ruto to live within the country’s means as this could further encourage domestic and foreign investment and stop the obsession with all manner of levies.
“We also demand that the government should live within its means such measures will undoubtedly encourage domestic and foreign investment”, said Sapit
Further Ole Sapit challenged President Ruto’s administration to look for alternative sources of revenue collection.
The cleric asked Ruto and his administration to go slow on taxing Kenyans who have already been stretched with high taxes imposed on fuel and new levies introduced courtesy of the Finance Act 20223 like the mandatory Housing Tax.
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“It is imperative for our government to appreciate the fact that Kenyan citizens are already stretched to their limits”, said Sapit.
The archbishop explained that the government cannot only rely on taxation as an economic way of development for the country.
“We must collectively accept that economic development cannot solely rely on taxation as its primary source of revenue,” said Sapit.
Cost of Living
Notably the high cost of living has become an issue of contention since President Ruto took over, with prices of basic commodities shooting through the roof.
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President Ruto maintained that he inherited a battered economy grappling with soaring inflation, a high debt burden, unemployment and post-COVID stagnation.
Shortly after his inauguration, Ruto announced a halt in food subsidies introduced by his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta, saying he was shifting focus to lowering the cost of production.
Subsequently the government terminated subsidies for fuel and electricity, describing them as unsustainable. Similarly, President Ruto defended his actions, saying his administration had saved large sums of money that would have been spent on the expensive subsidies.
PHOTO/CNN
