Raila Jnr confronts father for supporting fuel tax

As Members of Parliament prepare to vote on President Uhuru Kenyatta’s proposal to impose an 8% tax on petroleum products, Nasa leader Raila Odinga’s son Raila Jnr has made his opposition to the move known to his father.

Raila Jnr has come out as one of the foremost critics of the move, which Raila on Tuesday rallied Nasa MPs, mainly from his own ODM party, to support.

“Unfortunately as a Kenyan citizen, I am unconvinced by the statement put out by NASA on the VAT on fuel. None of the conditions they have put up are measurable and even if they were they are nowhere near closing the deficit on the debt,” he tweeted on Tuesday.

He appealed to his local MP, Kibra’s Kenneth Okoth not to support the proposed amendments to the Finance Bill 2018 as he challenged other Kenyans to do the same. However, some prodded him to convince his father first.

Several ODM MPs among them Rongo’s Paul Abuor, Otiende Amollo (Rarieda), Mark Nyamita (Uriri) and Babu Owino (Embakasi East) have openly declared they would reject the President’s memorandum, which also proposes more tax on mobile money transactions, airtime and internet bundles, among others.

And on Thursday,  Raila Jnr revealed in another Twitter post that he had spoken to his father and impressed upon him on the need to allow MPs vote independently.

I have given @RailaOdinga my views against the 8% rise in VAT and expressed reasoning for MPs to vote independently. #Kenyansfirst pic.twitter.com/P2l1e3kwGM

— Raila Junior Odinga (@Railajunior) September 20, 2018

The VAT on fuel has attracted resistance from ordeinary Kenyans who are already overburdened amid fears it could hike the cost of living.

Raila and his co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka have come under sharp criticism for supporting the tax measures.

However, on Wednesday, an unfazed Kalonzo implored  upon MPs from his party to vote for the President’s proposal to reduce the fuel tax from 16% to 8%, terming it as a step towards supporting the handshake and building bridges initiative that brought the ruling Jubilee and Nasa coalitions together.

Kalonzo however attributed Kenya’s economic woes to the rampant corruption that has hit the government and hailed the President for seeking to tackle the menace headon.

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“If President Uhuru Kenyatta blinks, then he would have lost even his own legacy. And I think so far he has shown no indication of blinking,” he said.