Sifuna outlines plan to cut taxes, reduce wastage by Ksh.1.8 trillion if elected President

Nairobi Senator and Linda Mwananchi presidential aspirant Edwin Sifuna says he will reduce taxation, establish a national data bank of schools in Kenya and ensure hospitals are paid for services rendered within 30 days if elected President.

In an interview covering a range of issues, Sifuna declared President William Ruto a failure as he fired back at the Head of State, who has previously described him as being “empty.”

“They (team of experts) are telling me that it is possible to have a balanced budget in 15 months by doing certain specific things. Number one, they can cut from the budget between Ksh.500 billion and Ksh.1.8 trillion in wastage, and we can go line by line and say this is where the wastage is. You can remove VAT on fuel, you can remove the housing levy, you can reduce VAT on electricity,” said Sifuna.

In the education sector, the leader of the newly unveiled The Equitable Party (TEP) said he would begin by establishing a national data bank for schools, arguing that the sector, which receives a significant amount of government funding, has for years been vulnerable to misuse of public resources.

“In education, the government does not have data on anything. The government cannot tell you how many students we have, how many schools we have, or data on the schools we have. They are doing that to cover up for the capitation money. The first thing we want to do is to have a national data bank so Kenyans can know how many students we have,” stated Sifuna.

In the health sector, Sifuna argued that delays in settling claims for services rendered had pushed hospitals into financial distress.

“We will give all hospitals in Kenya a guarantee that as far as you render a service, 30 days, we pay you. But if we catch you once, one time only, trying to clear a fraudulent claim, you are out of the system,” he said.

Sifuna described Ruto as a failure, adding that the President was angry because he had sensed defeat.

“All those names he is calling me, he also called Raila. You can’t tell us that just because Talanta has been built and it is a beautiful stadium, that we should be clapping for you. We want transparency. There is no greater failure than betraying your oath of office,” noted Sifuna.

“If you did a list of allegations, proven and unproven, column A, Edwin Sifuna; column B, William Ruto. Let me say I accept the allegation of being an extortionist. You will also find that in Ruto’s column, na zake zitaendelea hadi chini.”

The vocal Nairobi Senator added that the process of rebranding his recently unveiled party was on course.

“The NEC of TEP has already met and ratified the name change. We have already submitted those changes to the Registrar. TEP will soon transform to Linda Mwananchi, which we will use to approach the election in 2027,” he added.