Kenyan lawmakers have forced the government to withdraw a proposal to tax their generous allowances.
The legislators deleted clauses in the Finance Bill that had proposed taxation on their six-figure perks and approved the rest of the budget document.
Finance and Trade Committee Chairman Chris Okemo moved the motion in parliament late on Tuesday to have Clauses 39 and 43 deleted after acting Finance Minister John Michuki refused to do so.
Michuki's therefore withdrew clauses in the Finance Bill, which would make legislators, and constitutional office holders taxed was reached at after a closed door meeting with MPs.
"The government still believes that MPs should pay taxes and also my conscience cannot allow me to push for the deletion of the clause," Michuki told parliament late Tuesday.
When the proposal to tax MPs hefty packages was made by former Finance Minister Amos Kimunya in June, they defended their untaxed packages unanimously and instead accused the media of blowing the matter out of proportion.
The move has been met with outrage among several leaders from various sectors. Civil society organizations and members of the public have all spoken against the move.
Those opposed to the move said all Kenyans should pay taxes to contribute to day to day running of the government.
Only three out of the 222 MPs have volunteered to have their taxes deducted, a move that National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende dismissed as unworkable.
"Parliament taxes in accordance with the law so if a member writes to the Clerk of the National Assembly and says he wants to be taxed that may not be effected because it would be against the law," Marende said.
Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, who is also the leader of government business, had indicated on Tuesday that MPs would be persuaded to change their stand on the matter during Tuesday's informal meeting. Musyoka however failed to attend the meeting but later said he would push for consensus on the matter.
"It is not very difficult for you to imagine what my position on this matter will be because I believe in transparency. But as a leader of Government Business I need to carry everybody along. If I were to polarize members it would be very unfortunate," he said.
The 222 MPs each earn over 800,000 shillings (10,256.4 U.S. dollars) per month, out of which 200,000 shillings is their basic salary for which they pay taxes.
The rest of the money is exempted from tax. If the law were to be changed, each MP would pay at least 233,931 shillings in taxes per month in Pay-As-You-Earn based on the minimum 800,000 shillings package.
Their combined tax would contribute at least 51.9 million shillings a month or 802.8 million shillings a year to the Treasury.
The opinion poll conducted by The Stead-man Group for the Nation Media Group showed that citizens were unhappy with MPs over their failure to pay tax on their allowances.
A random sample of 2,051 adults in 53 districts was polled for the survey, which was conducted between Nov. 20, and 23.
The opinion poll indicates that 90 percent of Kenyans believe that Members of Parliament should pay taxes for all the money they earn.
According to the poll, it is only in North Eastern province that the number of those in support of the taxation falls below 85percent.
The survey also indicated that the public feels the MPs are paid too much, with only 10 per cent of the respondents describing the pay as "about right".
"Provincial variations here are very minor, with the figure for this response nowhere falling below 87 percent," the poll findings indicate.
Source:Xinhua
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