President William Ruto has announced that the Government is taking a proposal to Parliament to exempt Kenyans earning up to Sh30,000 from paying income tax.
Speaking on Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast in Nairobi, the President acknowledged that while the tax exemption will create a Sh40 billion hole in revenue, it is a necessary and innovative measure to cushion low-income earners from economic hardships.
“We can even find a way so that all those earning Sh30,000 and less are left out of the tax bracket,” he said.
The annual prayer event was attended by First Lady Rachel Ruto, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, the spouse of the Deputy President Joyce Kindiki, senior government officials and foreign dignitaries.
President Ruto anchored his address on national faith, citing the preamble of the Constitution which acknowledges that God is the “God of all creation”.
“As we believe in God, we must believe in ourselves and our country. This is a great nation and we must believe in it,” the President urged.
Reflecting on the severe 2022 drought, the President recalled how the nation gathered at Nyayo Stadium, Nairobi, to pray. He noted that the abundant rainfall over the past three years has since revitalised agriculture, boosting maize, tea and coffee sectors.
On development, the President explained his administration’s record, saying negative media headlines should not hoodwink Kenyans.
“A journalist friend told me newspaper headlines are mainly negative because bad news sells. Newspapers are in business,” he said, assuring citizens that the headlines do not reflect the country’s reality.
He went on: “Kenya is not, and will never be, a failed State. This country is great and we have a duty to make it greater.”
Keynote speaker Chris Rwakasisi, a senior advisor to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, shared a moving testimony about his political journey, his time on death row, and his transformation through scripture.
President Ruto commended Mr Rwakasisi’s powerful message, which aligned perfectly with the event’s theme of “forgiveness and reconciliation”.
Echoing the theme, ODM leader Oburu Oginga commended the current Broad-Based Government as a living example of national reconciliation. He noted that despite the fierce 2022 political contest between President Ruto and the late Raila Odinga, the leaders chose to put their differences aside for the country.
“I never imagined I would sit with President Ruto at the same table because we thought our victory had been stolen,” Mr Oburu said. “Political competition should not descend into enmity.”
Oginga warned Kenyans not to take peace for granted, pointing out that “you don’t value peace until you lose it”.
Looking ahead, President Ruto reassured the nation that the 2027 General Election will be peaceful, free, and fair, cautioning those preaching division that they would not succeed.
Shifting to the continental stage, the President urged African nations to aggressively mobilise domestic resources and stop relying on external debt. He said Africa holds $4 trillion in pension funds and insurance schemes that could be unlocked for development.
“We must make our savings work for us instead of looking for the savings of others. We have to think outside the box,” the President pointed out.
He cited Kenya’s recent successes as proof that Africa can be self-reliant, noting that the government has mobilised KSh650 billion locally to fund affordable housing.
Further, he noted, no external funding has been borrowed to build Talanta Stadium or the Bomas International Convention Centre.
Additionally, the universal healthcare programme has been funded through local financing, including the KSh150 billion in locally that has been disbursed to health facilities across the country in the past 18 months.
Addressing the recent transport strike, the President disclosed that the meeting he held last week with public transport stakeholders lasted three and a half hours in Mombasa.
He explained to them that the administration had inherited a broken system, with nearly KSh160 billion debt of unsustainable fuel subsidies.
The government, he said, has cushioned consumers against recent price increases, spending KSh28 billion in price stabilisation financing and foregone Value Added Tax in the past two months.
“Without these interventions, diesel would be selling at Sh273 and not Sh232,” President Ruto explained, adding that transport leaders understood the factual situation and voluntarily called off their suspended strike.
“People said they were influenced to call off the strike. Yes, maybe they were influenced by the facts,” he pointed out.
On sustainable ways of reducing the impact of global fuel shocks, the President pointed out that he and other leaders in the region were determined to build a local oil refinery.
He announced that construction of the refinery will commence next year and will, among others, process crude oil from Turkana County whose extraction has already begun.
Ruto disclosed that he has held talks regarding the project with Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote.
