Over the last one year, Kenyans have been struggling with increased taxes on basic commodities and even on their hard-earned salaries.
This started shortly after President William Ruto took office in September 2022. The president has been on record urging Kenyans to fasten their tax belts, saying he had to decide to rescue the country from shelving into further deep depts.
However, reports have emerged on who could have pushed Ruto to increase high taxes on Kenyans. The report was made public by Taifa Leo Newspaper on Saturday while exposing why Treasury CS Professor Njuguna Ndung’u had reportedly handed in his resignation letter to Ruto late last year.
It is reported that Njuguna took the action as one way of distancing himself from blame from Kenyans over high taxes imposed on them by the government. According to the paper, there has been a hidden hand pushing Ruto to increase taxes regularly.
The report mentioned the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the main body that has been pushing the president to tax Kenyans more.
IMF has been on record ranking Kenya among the best-growing countries and has paid its loans on time. It recently gave a total of Ksh150 billion loan to Kenya, something that raised eyebrows among Kenyans.
In the report, Njuguna is said to have taken the extraordinary step of submitting resignation letters to President Ruto, only to have them rejected.
Insiders shed light on some of the ministers’ grievances, citing their exclusion from pivotal matters, particularly decisions related to taxation.
“The Minister feels marginalized in crucial aspects of the country’s economic operations. There is a fear of being held accountable for policies or actions in which he had no involvement,” sources explained.
President Ruto’s government has faced significant backlash over the past year for its persistent imposition of taxes, primarily affecting formally employed individuals.
By Newsmedia