A political showdown looms after the Kenya Kwanza and Azimio sides in The National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) failed to reach a consensus on the removal of the 16 per cent Value Added Tax on fuel and scrapping of the Housing Levy.
In a joint statement, members of NADCO drawn from the Azimio and Kenya Kwanza sides stated that they had been unable to agree on the two contentious issues.
Earlier, the Azimio team led by Kalonzo Musyoka had described the issues as irreducible minimums, a position they later negated.
“The Committee was unable to reach a consensus on a number of other proposals on the matter of cost of living, including the reduction of VAT on fuel from 16 per cent to 8 per cent, and scrapping of the housing levy, the twin issues in the Finance Act 2023,” the statement read in part.
In reducing fuel prices, NADCO recommended the reduction of road maintenance levy and the anti-adulteration levy.
The Committee recommended that the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum in liaison with the National Treasury to reduce the road maintenance levy and the anti-adulteration levy by Ksh 5 and Ksh 3 per litre respectively.
Other ways to reduce the cost of living recommended by the commitee includ; introduction of austerity measures for public servants, transfer of devolved funds from the national government and timely release of equitable share to the County Governments.
On Austerity measures, the Committee recommended all arms of government to reduce their travel budgets by 50 per cent.
“The Salaries and Remuneration Commission review Daily Subsistence Allowances for State and Public Officers with a view to reducing by 30 per cent,” NADCO added.
President William Ruto’s administration was further asked to finalise the transfer of all devolved functions to the county governments.
The National Assembly was further asked to amend the Constitution to provide for the equitable share to the County Governments not to be less than 20 per cent of all revenue collected by the National Government.
The report will be presented to President William Ruto and Raila Odinga for consideration before being tabled in Parliament for consideration.
