BY VICTORIA RUBADIRI and LABAN WANAMBISI
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| null     1/1 PM Raila Odinga queues to pay tax/Mike Kariuki NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 27 - Prime Minister Raila Odinga caused a stir at the Kenya Revenue Authority's Times Tower offices on Monday, when he joined the queues to remit his tax arrears. The Prime Minister who arrived at the Times Tower shortly after midday queued with other taxpayers and filled out the requisite forms to pay Sh3,392,344 owed to the taxman. Mr Odinga, who paid arrears based on calculations by the accounts departments in the Office of the Prime Minister and Parliament, said he did so because it was required by the Constitution. "I've done this because nobody is above the law. The Constitution does not exempt anybody, let alone Members of Parliament, from paying taxes. We must follow the same law that everyone follows. All Kenyans including some of the lowest paid house helps, labourers, factory workers, even vendors pay tax," he said. In the 10-month period since the promulgation of the Constitution, the Prime Minister announced that he has earned Sh6.5 million from Parliament in addition to the Sh800,000 a month received from the Office of the Prime Minister. Noting that the burden of taxation must be shared fairly among Kenyans, Mr Odinga encouraged his fellow Members of Parliament to show their willingness to comply with the Constitution. "As elected leaders we must provide leadership on this in word and action. We must show we are ready to live by the dictates of the Constitution. That is why, even before all the rules are settled on this issue, I show my willingness to live by this new requirement," Mr Odinga said. The Prime Minister applauded the efforts of the KRA in pursuing lawmakers to pay their taxes. However, he warned against its actions escalating to the level of harassment and extortion. "The KRA must move with vigour and enthusiasm to pursue MPs. But I also caution that pursuit of taxes must not be an excuse for harassment or extortion by KRA officials. Just like tax evasion, extortion and harassment are crimes," he said. Considering that MPs were alerted of the requirement to repay back taxes without warning, Mr Odinga insisted they should not be entirely faulted for questioning the directive. "I don't think the MPs should be blamed for these arrears that now exist. It is an unfortunate situation that has arisen as result of someone not doing what he/she was required to do. It is an unfortunate situation, where you have been paid money and have spent that money and someone demands that you refund.. you find that you will be financially embarrassed," he said. Elsewhere at Parliament buildings, Gachoka MP Mutava Musyimi - who intends to vie for the presidency next year - also announced that he had been to the KRA offices to submit Sh1.9 million as tax arrears from August last year. He has also written to the Clerk of the National Assembly Peter Gichohi instructing him to make deductions from his salary from July of this year. "It's a pity that it is taking so long for the discussion between Parliament and the KRA to be concluded. I personally couldn't wait any longer; I had agonised over it right from when we came here in January 2008." The Gachoka MP added: "I will be honest with you and say that, the minute that you say you want to be a presidential candidate, you have to put your house in order in every sense". "Not just this but also if I have been tax compliant all through, you put yourself in greater scrutiny and it is an added incentive," he said as he displayed two certificates from KRA, as proof that he had cleared his tax arrears. Only MPs Peter Kenneth and Johnson Muthama have been voluntary paying their taxes. A section of MPs are however adamant that they will not comply with constitutional requirement: "I am not running for presidency, so I will not pay," said one MP. The Parliamentary Service Commission last week appealed to MPs threatening to sabotage budget debate and disband the KRA to wait until negotiations on the issue are held. Vice Chairman Walter Nyambati said the negotiations should be held early enough before KRA embarks on issuing a 30-day ultimatum for them to comply. They're now accusing both President Mwai Kibaki and KRA of failing to honour a pre- referendum gentleman's agreement that members will pay tax on their salaries and allowances after the term of the current Parliament ends. In the run up to last year's plebiscite on the Constitution, the government was forced to convene a Speaker's Kamukunji after MPs stalled the passage of the Finance Bill which sought Parliament's approval on expenditure of an ambitious one-trillion-shilling budget. They only backed down after assurances by Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Attorney General Amos Wako and the Kenya Revenue Authority that they would be exempted from paying taxes until the expiry of the current Parliament in 2012. Follow us on TWITTER @CapitalFM_Kenya and the author at http://twitter.com/#!/vrubadiri and https://twitter.com/lwanambisi |
Read more: http://capitalfm.co.ke/news/Kenyanews/Raila-queues-at-KRA%2C-pays-Sh3m-arrears-13378.html#ixzz1QVCkEXzK
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