Parliament to hold special sitting over fuel V.A.T

Members of Parliament will be forced to cut short their recess to discuss the Value Added Tax (V.A.T) on fuel that has taken effect in defiance of the Finance Amendment Bill 2018.

Belgut MP Nelson Koech has written to Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi, through the office of Majority Leader Aden Duale, to immediately convene a special sitting of the House to “once again express itself on the matter and censure institutions and persons who have failed to appreciate the unaffordability and the consequences of the new prices on the economy of the country.”

“My request is informed by outcry from the public following the insensitive decision by ERC to gazette increased fuel prices,” read the letter in parts.

The legislators, before breaking for a month-long recess on Thursday, deleted clauses in the Finance Bill that could heavily burden the taxpayers.

“As representatives of the people we expressed ourselves on the matter on Thursday 30^th May 2018 through the Finance Amendment Bill 2018 and was expected that relevant institutions and persons tasked with implementing it read the intent of the bill,” adds the letter.

The new fuel levy has caused public uproar with the Association of Matatu Operators vowing to increase fares and the Motorists’ Association of Kenya resorting to a strike.