Hello and welcome to the Evening Brief Newsletter where we are sporting steep bumps within the ruling UDA party.
Situational Awareness: We are back to tracking President William Ruto's jet globetrot.
For now, the Head of State is in Ghana and will head to Guinea Bissau thereafter. Follow along with us by subscribing to this Newsletter.
Diaspora Promises
President William Ruto is determined to streamline the taxation regime if a promise he made at a press conference in Ghana is to be believed.
The Head of State jetted out on Tuesday and in his address to Kenyans in Diaspora, he revealed that he directed the National Treasury to overhaul the current taxation regime and eliminate double taxation for Kenyans living abroad.
He acknowledged that Kenyans in the diaspora were already paying taxes in their countries of residence hence, there was no reason to impose similar taxes on them back home.
What Ruto is Saying: "I have asked our Treasury to do an overhaul of our taxing space. We will carry some input from the diaspora on what we can do better. We already said that people who pay taxes wherever they work, should not pay taxes for the same issues at home. All you need to do is to file your return and state what you have paid and we will give you a tax credit for what you have paid so that you do not pay taxes twice."
"We appreciate that you work in a different country and you have to pay taxes in that country and we can only work to ensure that we do not cause you to pay taxes twice. Tell us what we can do better. Tell us what we can do more. If there are tax issues, let's talk," he added.
The President is keen on promoting the export of the workforce and improving remittance made by the workers back into the country.
The Numbers: During Ruto's first year in office, Kenyans in Diaspora sent Ksh671 billion ($4.19 billion) in 2023, a 4 per cent increase from the previous year's remittance of $4.028 (Ksh645 billion).
The rise was directly influenced by an increase in diaspora receipts from within Africa, which rose by 50 per cent.
Data by the Central Bank of Kenya shows North America and Europe lead in remittances.
Jobs on Offer: In the same period, Ruto has been marketing Kenya's workforce abroad cutting deals with countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, Germany, Canada and the US. The first batch of 2,500 nursing jobs was already unlocked.
Pata Potea
As the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party struggles with realigning its leadership, its members are increasingly losing faith in its policies with some ditching altogether.
Recently, Former Bahati Member of Parliament Kimani Ngunjiri publicly declared that he was no longer a member of the party.
He accused the party of shortchanging party loyalists by failing to reward them with positions.
The Rant: “I want to say in this media and everybody in Kenya to hear me, I am not in UDA. I will never wear yellow. Somebody like me, they were giving people positions, where am I? I was almost dying fighting for UDA," Ngunjiri lamented.
He was also dissatisfied with individuals landing leadership positions barely a month after decamping from other parties.
Not long ago, Githunguri MP Gathoni wa Muchomba, a UDA lawmaker, partnered with her Azimio counterpart Babu Owino to form an opposition that vowed to stand up to power on behalf of Kenyans.
Wamuchomba has accused UDA of victimisation.
What Wamuchomba is Saying: "Victimised to the extent of people coming to my constituency to fight me politically, in physical presence. People from Githunguri know what I’m talking about. The opposition in Kenya seems to have been muzzled and the voices of reason are fading away. The voices of reason from civil society are fading away. The media seems to be intimidated."
“This team will fight for the voiceless, and their rights in all 8 regions. We have issues that we will be addressing from time to time. This is the team that will give direction in this country because we have seen a bit of laxity in the opposition," Babu Owino stated of their joint outfit.
Earlier, Gatanga and Kandara MPs Edward Muriu and Chege Njunguna had rejected sections of the Finance Act requiring Avocado farmers to pay tax.
The state had mandated all farmers to sign up and transmit their invoices via the Electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS)
"We are telling the government we are not going to pay that avocado taxes. And we have said and we refuse for our farmers to be killed by these taxes. Hiyo maneno tumekataa kabisa," Chege told the press.
Of Note: Chege had also joined the Babu Owino outfit aimed at holding Ruto to account.
Ruto's Measures: Yesterday, President William Ruto changed UDA's leadership by appointing Kenya Revenue Authority Chairman Anthony Mwaura as the Chairperson of the National Elections Board to be deputised by Veronica Kiberenge. The rest of the new board members are Lydia Munika, Jimmy Kaingi, Mary Mutinga, Halake Dida, and Linda Kiome.
Kenya Power Board Chair, Joy Mdivo, was appointed to head the Electoral Dispute Resolution Committee. She will be deputised by Dr Adrian Kamotho as the Committee will consist of seven members including Hellen Makone, Yvonne Cherop Kae, Dr Duncan Ojwang, Dr Kaberia Isaac.
Here are five other stories keeping us engaged;
1.Kenya is currently on the verge of securing Ksh130 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) following the completion of the review of its programme with the financial agency.
2. Raila Odinga demands the resignation of State officers appointed to run United Democratic Alliance (UDA) elections.
3. CS Soipan Tuya unveils the government plan to revoke all title deeds for individuals who have parcels of land in gazetted forests.
4. American investors have cited taxation and government policies as some of the stumbling blocks for foreigners investing in Kenya.
5. Meru Governor, Kawira Mwangaza joins the United Democratic Alliance Party (UDA). She won the seat as an independent.
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This newsletter was written by Derrick Kubasu and edited by Brian Muuo.
Washington Mito contributed to the content.
Graphics prepared by Adongo Kyalo.
