As the cost of living continues to rise each day, a lobby group is in the process of coming up with a bill to have essential food items exempted from taxes.
Among the items they are seeking to have zero rated include maize and wheat flour, cooking oil, cooking gas, bread and milk.
The group, the Public Service Governance said the ‘Affordable Kitchen Bill’ which is in the public participation stage seeks to bring the cost of food down and ensure no Kenyan sleeps hungry.
The organization’s President Esther Waringa said they will lobby parliamentarians to support the bill for the sake of the downtrodden in the society.
Speaking during the launch of an organization for the entire Single mothers in the country in Nairobi yesterday, Waringa said Kenyans can hardly put food on the table and many of them were sleeping hungry.
“We hope the parliamentarians will stand with the electorate and pass the bill so as to make the cost of food affordable. We also call on President William Ruto to assent the bill if it is passed by parliament, “said Waringa.
The single mothers led by their chairperson Elizabeth Wambui said life had become unbearable over the past few months especially that they do not get support from anywhere.
They said they consist of the biggest percentage in the country and that there needs to be social protection laws passed to cushion them from the high cost of living.
“Other than being unable to afford food on a daily basis, our children have dropped out of school because we don’t get any support from anywhere given that most of us are jobless,” Wambui said.
The women said they needed more recognition and support programmes from both national and county governments to ease life pressures.
“Starting with the passing of the Kitchen Bill, we ask our parliamentarians to pass it because we feel pain that we have been left by ourselves. We also need to have friendly laws that protect and recognize us,” said Irene Menjo, Single mothers’ coordinator Mt Kenya region.
By Muoki Charles
