Kenyans have moved to social media to praise President Uhuru Kenyatta’s boldness in dealing with the controversial fuel tax issue.
In his State of the nation address on Friday, the President said that he had directed the Parliament to ammend some changes to the Financial bill 2018, which will see the Fuel tax reduced by 50%.
According to the President, the bill which had suspended VAT on fuel to 2022 played good politics but bad leadership.
“The Finance Bill 2018/19 brought to me yesterday fell short of this threshold. It protected the status quo and sacrificed the bigger vision. It took the easy path, instead of rising to the challenges of our time. It was good politics, but bad leadership.”
Uhuru said that short time pain must be sacrificed for long time gain. He said the only way to manage the huge government wage bill was through paying taxes.
It is my responsibility to put Kenyans first, those living today, and your children, who will inherit the country tomorrow. That means I must balance between short-term pain and long-term gain. We have a country to transform, and we must make bold decisions to achieve our vision.
— Uhuru Kenyatta (@UKenyatta) September 14, 2018
He also said that he has proposed wide-ranging cuts in spending as well as austerity measures across all arms of government.
“The cuts target less essential spending, such as hospitality, foreign and domestic travel, training and seminars, and similar categories.”