Concerns have been raised by Kenya’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Alliance CEO, Samuel Karanja, about what he considers to be unduly high taxes levied by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), which has been doing door-to-door audits to make sure taxes are paid.
Speaking during a Citizen TV Day Break panel, Karanja claimed that small firms are suffering as a result of the strict regulations.
Karanja emphasized that revenue authorities often presume small manufacturing enterprises have big financial reserves and seek a disproportionate part of their compliance efforts when they are scrutinized.
These are individuals who steal public funds, particularly when appointed to positions. He said, “They are not there to assist or carry out policies that have been put in place.
Additionally, he emphasized that the government has not yet delivered on its pledge to help Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) through a “Bottom-up” approach.
Karanja suggested that instead of forbidding imports, the government should encourage homegrown production. He said that more tax rules won’t bring prosperity and that laws meant to safeguard neighborhood retailers have instead put up roadblocks for companies.
“How do we transition from importation to production? You cannot tax people into prosperity by claiming that GDP will increase.” He said, “You have to start facilitating policies to support the local cottage industry.”
He also encouraged President William Ruto to honor his pledges to the “hustlers” who supported his candidacy by supporting financially troubled MSMEs when he delivered his first State of the Nation address.
We placed the president in office as hustlers so that he should be able to help us, therefore it is difficult for him to tell us what he is doing, what he promised, and explain what we are seeing, Karanja continued.
Diana Gichengo, the National Coordinator of the Institute for Social Accountability (TISA), who was also a panelist, criticized Parliament for its apparent failure to hold individuals responsible for financial mismanagement and for allegedly overspending on her salary three times, which was a factor in the high cost of living.
Gichengo stressed that rather than concentrating on long-term talks about lowering living expenses, immediate action should be taken in Parliament to find those accountable for financial irregularities, such as the misuse of supplemental funds.
“People debating theories about how to lower future living expenses at Bomas shouldn’t be the main topic of conversation right now. We require action from the Parliament, such as summoning people. Who intended to pilfer? Who took advantage of the capital expense under the supplemental budget? Heads ought to be rolling by now, she said.
“We have an issue with plotting theft. Normally, Parliament finds it acceptable that we have lost so much money. Since they are the ones in possession of the Kenyan pass, they have a constitutional obligation to defend it to the fullest extent possible.
West Suna In an attempt to shed light on the constraints of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, which he serves on, Member of Parliament Peter Francis Masara stated during the same program that the committee primarily discusses departmental block data rather than delving into specific compensation information.
Detailing individual salaries at the Committee level is a very challenging task. At our level, we talk about the departmental block data and, most of the time, we compare the allocations from the previous fiscal year to the current one,” he stated.
To further evaluate the situation, he added, a meeting with the Parliamentary Budget Office would be planned.
On Thursday, November 9, President William Ruto will give his first State of the Nation speech since assuming office in September of last year.
A gazette notice states that on the specified date at 2:00 p.m., the President will address a joint parliamentary sitting of the Senate and the National Assembly.
