Several Kenyans have been arrested in Nairobi’s central business district (CBD) for holding peaceful protests against the Finance Bill 2024.
The protests dubbed ‘Occupy Parliament’ are aimed at pressuring Members of Parliament into rejecting the Finance Bill 2024, which Kenyans say has introduced punitive tax measures.
The arrests come moments after Nairobi Region Police Commander Adamson Bungei said that no group had been allowed to hold protests in Nairobi on Tuesday.
“We have heightened our patrols within the CBD to ensure there is no disruption of businesses. No body applied for any license or permit to do the protests,” Bungei told a local media outlet.
The National Assembly Finance Committee is set to table the Bill on Tuesday after taking into consideration views expressed by Kenyans during the public participation phase.
Before tabling the Bill in Parliament, the committee is expected to brief President William Ruto about the proposed changes.
Initially, it was reported that the committee has dropped contentious issues contained in the Bill such as motor vehicle tax at a rate of 2.5 per cent of the value of the motor vehicle.
Also, the committee is reported to have dropped a proposal to have bread removed from the list of items that are zero-rated for VAT purposes. Bread is currently on a list of zero-rated items that include flour, milk and sanitary products.
People Daily reports that the committee has also done away with the proposed bid to impose an excise duty of 25 per cent on crude palm oil and finished cooking oil.
The Treasury is seeking in the bill to introduce a new levy for manufacturers and importers which is aimed at protecting the environment. As proposed in the Finance Bill 2024, the Eco Levy targets goods that are deemed to negatively affect the environment.
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