Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has moved to calm the Mount Kenya region as residents from the vote-rich bloc continue to protest against a raft of unpopular policies introduced by the Kenya Kwanza government.
Speaking after a consultative meeting held in Karen with stakeholders from the agricultural industry, Gachagua stated that MPs will be amending the Finance Act, 2024 in three months to factor in feedback from various stakeholders.
Among the issues that the government is looking to address is the disquiet stemming from the proposed Farm Produce Tax which has encountered widespread opposition across Mt. Kenya.
"We know that there is a challenge with the Finance Act, the Members of Parliament here have acceded that there are issues in every document that may not serve the intended objective, " stated Gachagua.
The DP elaborated that although the legislation was conceptualised in good faith, it still contained some contentious acts which need to be reviewed.
“In any exam, even 70 per cent is an A, that does not mean because there a few things that are wrong the document is entirely bad,” stated Gachagua
Further actions by Gachagua included calling for a meeting with the Cabinet Secretaries responsible for Treasury and Agriculture alongside 8 representatives of players within the agriculture industry that will further deliberate contentious issues before the amendments are made.
He also emphasised that he was taking immediate action by formulating a task-force that would embark on formulating recommendations after looking into the proposed Farm Produce Tax before the piece of legislation is amended.
The task force will comprise of farmers, aggregators, and KRA officials. The group is expected to table a report on any regulatory and legal issues raised by farmers that need to be taken into account.
The Farmers Produce Tax, has faced stiff resistance in Mt. Kenya region which relies heavily on agriculture.
Political leaders from the region led by former Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe have described the tax as retrogressive, ill informed and contradicting the platform on which the UDA government campaigned on.
As such, the leaders have demanded that the government revise the policy.
