John Mbadi: Government has no plan to address high cost of living

By Robert Mutasi

Nominated Member of Parliament John Mbadi has said that the Finance Bill 2023 drafted by the Kenya Kwanza government will not solve the current issue of the high cost of living.

Mbadi instead claims that the bill will only make things worse by increasing the prices of basic commodities.

Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV on Thursday, the ODM chairman noted that should the National Assembly pass the Finance Bill as it is, Kenyans will have to dig deeper into their pockets due to some of the proposed taxes.

The former leader of the minority noted that they expected the bill to solve the problem of the cost of living but is contrary to their expectations. 

"What is the signal? What is the picture? When government policies speak the opposite," posed Mbadi.

"Some of the basic commodities are being removed from zero rating to exempt simply because the government does not want to make tax refunds," he added.

The ODM chairman claims the Finance Bill will see Kenyans overtaxed, especially those in the medium and small enterprise sectors.

With the proposals contained in the controversial Bill, Mbadi noted that the government has not focused on reducing the high cost of living.

"The problem that Kenyans are facing today is truly the high cost of living which they expect the finance bill to speak to that now," he argued.

The opposition has rejected proposals contained in the Finance Bill and vowed to shoot it down when presented in Parliament.

On Tuesday, the Azimio leader Raila Odinga said should the government use its tyranny of numbers to push through the bill, he would mobilize Kenyans to go to the streets.

"We will have no options but to mobilise all the social sectors and take all necessary political actions to stop this blow and burden. Punda imechoka," Raila told journalists.