National Assembly Minority Deputy Leader Robert Mbui on Monday morning accused Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi of flipflopping after his recent announcements of plans to revive the eco levy.
While appearing as a panelist on Citizen TV, Mbui argued that increasing taxes as proposed by Mbadi would not result in a surge in revenue collected countrywide.
"One of the biggest opponents of the Finance Bill 2024 and one of the things that we found very contentious was the eco levy," Mbui noted.
"For the CS, just a week into office, to be telling us that it is the right way to go, that is why when I was questioning, I was talking about things to do with double speak. People must be able to stand their ground firmly. If you believe in something, let us know that you really believe in it."
He further argued that the explanation the Treasury CS provided as a justification for re-introducing the eco levy to improve local production was not satisfactory since the manufacturing sector in Kenya was not well equipped in assuring quality in some sectors.
While reinforcing his argument, Mbui accused Mbadi of disregarding his predecessor Njuguna Ndung'u's advise on curbing taxes due to the high cost of living.
"This eco levy is a mistake because they are leving taxes on phones and computer and basically all office equipment. That means that everyone who is running a business in Kenya and has some little technology, they have to pay extra for that. That makes all the costs for their goods and services more and we are talking about containers like plastics for cooking oil etc," he explained.
"He was told by his predecessor very well that you have to be very careful that Kenya has a problem cost of living and poverty and he was told, 'when you increase taxation, it doesn't necessarily mean that you collect more."
"For my friend, the honourable member (John Mbadi), he must listen keenly to what he was told by his predecessor. He was told when you increase taxes, you don't collect more," Mbui added.
The lawmaker, who is attached to Wiper Party and holds a Master of Business Administration Degree from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), insisted that the country should stick with producing the goods that it has advantage on and allow for importation of the rest.
"The law of comparative advantage advises any country to concentrate their efforts on the things that they can produce and then import the others that they cannot so we balance out," he added.
"When you say that we are going to levy taxes because we don't want people to importing these things e want to manufacture them locally. What if the standards locally are not enough, are we going to punish Kenyans as we are building the capacity?"
On Sunday, Mbadi revealed that talks on reviving 49 amendments from the rejected Finance Bill 2024 was already in motion with eco levy at the top of the pile.
In these amendments, the Government aims to collect Ksh150 billion which will pay teachers, finance students joining universities as well as doctors and finance development without taking loans.
