Matiang’i urges Kenyans to reject Finance Bill 2026, warns country is ‘walking down a crisis’

Speaking on Wednesday during a press briefing at the party’s headquarters at Daraja House on State House Road, Jubilee deputy party leader Fred Matiang’i, Secretary General Richard Kenta and deputy party leader Jeremiah Kioni said the bill would hit ordinary Kenyans hardest if passed.

Matiang’i said the country was “walking down a crisis” and called on the Executive to address challenges facing Kenyans instead of, in his view, issuing excuses.

“We are walking down a crisis,” Matiang’i said, warning against politicising national security and framing economic challenges along ethnic lines.

Kioni said the protests witnessed over the past two days were a message from Kenyans that “enough is enough”, insisting the demonstrations were not driven by political mobilisation.

“What we saw in the last two days is a statement of Kenyans saying enough is enough… There was no single political statement ahead of the demos,” Kioni said.

The party also cautioned the Kenya Kwanza administration against what it described as ethnic profiling of recent fuel protests, arguing that the cost of living affects all Kenyans regardless of community.

Jubilee further warned the government against blaming retired President Uhuru Kenyatta for the country’s challenges, saying leaders should focus on solutions.

Kioni accused the government of shifting blame to Uhuru rather than responding to issues raised by the public, and repeated the party’s call for Kenyans to reject the Finance Bill 2026.

“They have a Finance Bill that Kenyans must reject,” he said.

Matiang’i said Jubilee would hold public engagements on the proposed law, as the party rallies public opposition to the bill.

Jubilee also demanded disclosure of what it claimed is a “secret” road levy securitisation deal, calling for transparency on the agreement and its implications.