The sole means of relieving Kenya of its debt, according to Senate Speaker Amason Kingi, is for President William Ruto to continue enforcing taxes.
Kingi claimed that during a meeting held in Karen following the general election of last year, they were told that the National Treasury only had a pitiful Sh90 million in cash on hand.
There was a lot of work ahead of the leaders in attendance, he claimed President Ruto, who was then forming his government, informed them.
"I recall there being complete silence following the Treasury officials' briefing on the nation's financial situation.
"Gentlemen, we have work to do," the President then declared as he stood up, according to Kingi.
Kingi said that President Ruto had two choices when he learned about the financial predicament: he could have resorted to international financial institutions or made sure Kenyans paid for their government.
"It may seem punitive, but the President had to make some very difficult decisions, but in the end, things will work out," Kingi said.
He claimed that Kenya would have been even more deeply in debt if President Ruto had chosen to take out more loans to pay for government expenses.
"The most effective strategy to help Kenya overcome its financial difficulties was to raise funds domestically. President Ruto is comparable to a medical professional tending to a boil patient.
"The patient will eventually show gratitude for treatment after making noise and threatening everything under the sun," according to Kingi.
"At this moment, they will go into the streets and call you Zakayo, which is the Bible term for a tax collector), but eventually they will come to appreciate this choice you made."
President Ruto was present when Kingi spoke at an interdenominational prayer service for Thanksgiving held at Mama Ngina Waterfront Park in Mombasa.
The immediate former governor of Kilifi, Kingi, stated before the general election of the previous year that Ruto, despite holding the position of Deputy President, had been turned down by the ruling administration.
"Ruto was turned away from the Deputy President's official residence here in Mombasa.
"During the previous regime, he was evicted like a renter who did not pay their rent, but today he serves as the President of Kenya," Kingi said.
"The stone that builders rejected became the cornerstone," he continued, despite having been rejected by the system and the wealthy. God is worthy of our gratitude," he declared.
Kingi urged Kenyans to back the President on the grounds that the nation would implode if he lost.
"Everyone in Kenya, including future generations, will have failed if the President fails, including those who are opposing him."
He declared, "We must stand by the President because his success is our success.
"The last general election was an election with a difference," stated President Ruto in his post-Kingi speech.
Three things transpired: first, the election effectively destroyed ethnicity and made tribalism, which had plagued Kenya's political circles, obsolete.
"Three things have happened: first, the elections demonstrated that the people of Kenya have the final say in who becomes President; second, political violence will never be a factor in an election in Kenya again.
President Ruto announced plans to raise Sh4 trillion for the upcoming fiscal year on Friday during the Kenya Revenue Authority Taxpayers' Day.
"KRA must thus consistently exhibit a unique dedication to new service-oriented principles and signify a break from the excesses and abuses of the past, which only served to incite animosity and promote evasion while facilitating waste, theft, embezzlement, and other corrupt practices,” stated Ruto.
According to him, KRA is now aware that it is feasible to increase its effectiveness and efficiency in tax collection while still treating taxpayers with decency, kindness, and gentleness.
"I will say it again: Serving taxpayers and the public at large requires not only being effective and efficient but also polite and considerate.
"Public humiliation and unpleasantness are not necessary for efficient revenue collection," he declared.
According to Ruto, the government's choice to digitise more than 13,000 services has greatly improved efficiency and integrity in the delivery of public services to citizens, which has improved revenue performance.
Fee income has already increased from Sh1.5 billion to Sh9 billion per month.
"It is evident that interventions that result in enhanced performance are focused on efficiency, honesty, and customer service," the speaker stated.
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