On June 12, 2025, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi will unveil Sh4.23 trillion budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The government promises no new taxes or hikes to avoid public outcry.
However, the Finance Bill 2025, aiming for Sh30 billion in new receipts, holds hidden dangers. The funding strategy estimates Sh2.75 billion will be raised through taxes.
Public submissions on the Finance Bill are increasingly seen as a sham. Despite constitutional mandate for public involvement (Articles 10, 118, 201, 221, and 221(5)), the growing feeling is that genuine public concerns are overshadowed by tax-raising proposals for projects that are sometimes obscure or questionable.
Therefore, public participation remains a superficial exercise. Article 221(5) mandates the parliamentary Committee on Finance to discuss and review budget estimates after having public representations and recommendations, which should be part and parcel of what the committee recommends to the National Assembly.
The disconnect between the public and policymakers is stark. The officials claim that there will be no new or raised taxes.
Only cuts in State’s operational costs and other unnecessary spending. But certain reclassifications—such as moving vital goods like sugarcane transportation inputs, motorcycles, solar or lithium batteries, electric buses, pharmaceuticals, and animal feed raw materials from zero-rated to value-added tax (VAT)-exempt—threaten to significantly increase the cost of living.
Our public view-gathering processes need to be streamlined to ensure they are not just for notetaking but genuinely inform policy. Let us move beyond mere formality and truly incorporate the people’s views.
Ignoring on-the-ground realities risks social discord. In addition, apprise the people in a way they will understand—how and where you intend to spend their taxes—pro-people programmes. When we see budget cuts in critical areas being diverted to sustain red tape and other obscure, non-developmental expenditures certainly displeasure and discord set in.
Recently, Mr Mbadi promised nationwide tours to engage citizens directly. Afterwards, nothing much has been seen or heard of the promise. Such “pulse feeling” sessions are crucial for unfiltered insights from taxpayers and are essential for rebuilding trust.
Transparency and predictability are paramount. Clear explanations of tax proposals, especially those that could harm the poor, like the VAT reclassification and the proposed extension of tax refund periods from 90 to 120 days, a detrimental move for small businesses, are vital.
For now, taxpayers are left to stare down an inevitable hike in the cost of goods and services, despite government assurances.
