In Summary
Our MPs are quick to take advantage of
opportunities to get free publicity, and they like nothing better than
the fact that the voters are watching them live on television. With that
in mind, they come up with all manner of statements aimed at soothing
the hapless wananchi and entice them into believing that their
representatives have the people’s welfare at heart.
Off camera, though, they often behave as if the
the word “conscience” does not exist in their vocabulary. They carry
themselves as people who have no feelings and no idea what is right and
wrong. This is exactly what happened during the debate on the 2015/16
budget.
Virtually all MPs opposed the government’s
intention to collect an additional Sh100 (Sh50 as fuel levy plus another
Sh50 as fuel and road tax) on every litre of the already heavily-taxed
petrol and diesel. Pretty much like chameleons, the MPs unanimously
endorsed the budget without changing a single word. What made them
change their minds so abruptly is something only their political parties
can explain. Finance minister Saada Mkuya’s reasoning that the levy was
intended to boost the Sh276 billion kitty for rural electrification was
apparently not good enough to stop our well informed MPs defending what
they supposedly believed to be right.
The harsh reality is that fuel costs translate
into additional transport charges. It will result in a hike in the cost
of living for the low-income earners who, according to Ms Mkuya, will be
the major beneficiaries of the augmented taxes on the petroleum
products. The minister’s move effectively amounts to giving with one
hand and taking away with the other.
If our MPs were really concerned about the
situation of rural Tanzania, they would simply come up with ways of
raising the revenue the right way—from various firms, including those
owned by their political and business associates, instead of milking
honest taxpayers dry.
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