Protests broke out in Mombasa on Saturday as traders in the city staged peaceful demonstrations over the hefty charges newly implemented on their businesses by the county government.
The irate traders stated that the charges were a part of the Mombasa Finance Bill 2024 which had been implemented without proper public participation or approval by the County Assembly.
A public participation meeting expected to take place at the Tononoka Social Hall failed to take off after members of the county assembly failed to show up, prompting the protests.
They argued that even though the finance bill had not been passed yet, normal charges like business licenses and taxes had doubled and others tripled without prior warning.
“We were paying Ksh30,000, now we are paying Ksh150,000, Ksh110,000 and others Ksh77,000,” one of the protesters, who runs a business at the Coast, stated.
“For a business permit, we were paying Ksh22,500 and now it is Ksh40,000 and yet we were discussing this bill which has already been implemented. I personally have gone to the county offices to pay for medicals and liquor clearance has hiked. We are coming to discuss a bill which is already implemented.”
To clarify the matter further, they stated that they understood why they needed to pay taxes while conducting their businesses but there was no way the county could justify doubling or tripling some of the charges.
“As much as we cannot operate a business without tax, they should bring on reasonable charges and we will comply with it. Right now, they are getting very low revenue but when they lower the charges, more people will be able to comply,” another added.
This is the second city in the country that has seen residents take to the streets to protest hiked fees in less than one week.
On Thursday, November 14, Eldoret City residents also staged protests over up to 300% increase in water tariffs, also without prior notice.
Despite intense opposition by the residents, the angry residents stated that their pleas to bring down the tariffs fell on deaf ears as the city water company told them that Eldoret had transformed into a city and thus the hefty charges.
“Does it mean that now that it is a city all prices go up? We need to attract investors. How do we attract investors if the water bill has gone so high that most of us will not be able to sustain our lives?” one of the Eldoret City residents quipped.
This new development comes as the national government has also tabled three bills in parliament reintroducing key bills that were constituted in the previous Finance Bill 2024 that was done away with.
