With just hours before Parliament convenes to debate on amendments to the controversial 16 percent VAT levied on petroleum products, Raila Odinga Junior has made a special request.
Raila Junior is opposition leader Raila Odinga’s youngest son.
On Thursday, he asked his father who leads the opposition to allow MPs allied to the ODM party which he chairs, to vote independently on if VAT should be capped at the proposed 8 percent by President Uhuru Kenyatta or it should be scrapped in entirety.
"I have given @RailaOdinga my views against the 8% rise in VAT and expressed reasoning for MPs to vote independently. #Kenyansfirst,” he tweeted.
ODM on Tuesday held is Parliamentary Group meeting which was chaired by Raila where it was decided that they will only support Uhuru’s 8 percent VAT proposal “for just a year”.
Minority Chief Whip Junet Mohammed while issuing the statement said their support for Uhuru’s proposal is conditional.
It remains to be seen what happens in Thursday’s special sitting as some Jubilee allied MPs had threatened to shoot down the amendments in the Finance Bill 2018.
They say no tax should be imposed on fuel and that the government should find other means to get money to finance its projects other than fuel.