According to Wikipedia, Kenya’s GDP adjusted to PPP is $175b
Here’s a glance of the Kenyan economy:
More taxes and levies
mburoti maguta maguta
more ghost malls than anywhere else in EA
SGR
Multi-billion shilling heists and scandals
bribes and kickbacks
Debts, debts and more debts
profit warnings
austerity measures
dwindling jobs
Bribe 4 agenda
Tenderpreneurs
betting
mpesa innovation (nitumie kwa namba ile ingine)
land grabbing & fake title deeds
multi-millionaire govt officials
rugs to riches drug peddlers
slay queens industry (which mints a new millionaire every fortnight)
multi-billion online hookups industry
reach daddies of Kenya, aka Sponsors
We can’t complete describing the Kenyan economy without mentioning the Governors, MCAs and NYS officials. Big ups to them all for looting it big in this bandit economy (credits to Willy Mutunga for coining this term).
na kwani umehama @Okwonkwo? Nilikuwacha juzi ukisifu SGR na nguvu sana.
And the reality is, when you start using such tax regimes the citizens will automatically start devicing ways to evade taxes. Magendo inaanza sasa. Bidhaa zinaletwa through illegal border points. Bribing cops and kra officials inaanza proper. The rich look for offshore banks. Na unaona vile Kibaki aliwacha KRA iki run vizuri.
sijahama, niko Kenya bado. SGR is good in the long run, I still support it. Who doesn’t want maendeleo anyway? But we have to admit their’s a fiscal crisis. As @Purple has put it elsewhere, tunataka vitu nzuri nzuri na tamu tamu at zero cost, which is impossible. Something has to give.
People like to quote Sweden and their benevolent government which gives free goodies. What they fail to realize is that Swedes pay over 60% in personal income tax and 25% VAT/sales tax. Kenya’s is only 30% and 16% respectively.
All those “happy Scandinavian countries” pay well over 50% in personal income taxes (on average) akina Denmark, Finland, Austria etc.
We are at a crossroads. The time to articulate economic policies and learn what each party and political candidate stands for is now. Do we want to become a socialist or capitalist leaning country??
What Kenyans must understand is that there’s never such a thing as free government funded health care or infrastructure or free schooling. It all comes down to TAXES, or if the country is lucky to have oil/mineral cash then citizens can enjoy a high standard of living without too much of taxes. Case in point UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia.
Corruption is a drag on public resources and UK has promised to tackle it head on. However, every Kenyan must help seal the budget deficit by loosening their purse strings and ‘giving unto Caesar what belongs to him. ‘
If it was all about size, the U.S. which is about 17 times bigger than Kenya, it would mean that the Kenyan economy would be at about 3 trillion dollars if she was the same size as the U.S.
Kenya would be at number 5 globally with the colonial master, Britain.
Currently, Kenya iko level moja na Utah though with a far much bigger population.
but you forget that these are WELFARE STATES. The Nordic model.
The govt. taxes then gives back to the citizens. Free this, free that!
Kenya is not a welfare state. Even the U.S has a generous welfare system supported by the hefty taxes. And if I remember correctly, every so often the govt. gives money back to the American tax payer. Often known as a TAX REFUND.
Kenya is very much trying to become a welfare state, which in the absence of tax reforms is a cheap populist move and unsustainable in the long run. We keep talking about corruption and our overbloated govt, but duh we still haven’t figured out how to make money!
Until we can increase output as a country, forget the free ANYTHING or having great infrastructure. To put it bluntly, majority of Kenyans expect to sit at home and give birth incessantly and somehow it’s the government’s responsibility to pay for it.
Ps: It’s unfair to compare what America does and generalize it to Kenya, apples and oranges.
The jubilee govt went around promising free stuff to the peasants in villages, without saying how they will boost national production, and reduce govt wastage and corruption…
Tukule ujeuri yetu,
The biggest problem is that only people in formal jobs and big companies pay tax, our taxation regime has not found ways of taxing the informal sector…
But also due to the lack of formal jobs , watu siku hizi wako jua-kali, and people have moved on.
Kenya cannot afford a welfare state, free education,free maternity, etc etc…
30% of kshs 5million is much greater than 30% of 100k. Goes to show you the importance of expanding the size of an economy.
Perhaps 60% of 100k is justified.