Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli called on the government to remodel the tax deductions architecture to favour Kenyan workers.
Speaking during the Labour Day celebrations at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi on Thursday, the COTU boss said that monthly deductions should only affect the basic salary of Kenyan workers and not their gross pay.
He called on President William Ruto to champion his appeal, noting that pay slips for Kenyan workers are being largely affected by the tax cuts.
“All salary deductions and statutory deductions should be on basic pay and not on gross where somebody has might have toiled very hard on overtime and does not realise something,” he noted. He argued that overtime, allowances or bonuses should not be included in the monthly deductions.
This comes as Kenyans have lamented the increasing tax burden imposed by the government, after including a myriad of additional deductions among them the Housing Levy and the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).
Atwoli further reiterated his call for media regulation, urging Kenyans to embrace patriotism and tame the growing misuse of digital platforms.
“We must love this country. We have no other country. If we don’t regulate social media. In China, Dubai, UK and US it is regulated. Kenya cannot be free for all,” he said.
Ruto said Finance Bill 2025 will support entreprise and productivity in Kenya.
In his Labour Day speech, the Head of State said the Bill, approved by Cabinet on Tuesday, seeks to “stimulate economic growth, deliver efficiency, enhance competitiveness, and expand opportunity.”
“In fact, its provisions are designed to offer targeted relief to both businesses and workers, and to support the spirit of enterprise and productivity,” Ruto told Kenyans.
He also announced plans to improve workers after tax pay by enabling employers to apply eligible tax reliefs and exemptions directly when calculating the Pay As You Earn (PAYE). This will be a change from the current system, where the tax reliefs can only be claimed from the Kenya Revenue Authority after filing tax returns.
“This will increase efficiency and immediately benefit employees,” noted the President.
He also announced that Kenya will ratify two conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to realise protection of all workers.
He declared that ILO Convention 189 of 2011 and 190 of 2019 will be ratified by next year.
The ILO Convention 189 seeks to safeguard the dignity and rights of domestic workers, while convention 190 seeks to eliminate violence and harassment in the world of work.
Here, Ruto also drummed up support for the affordable housing project, health insurance and pension deductions which have recently minimized the take-home pay of Kenyan workers.
Ruto urged Kenyans to look at the long term benefit of the salary deductions.
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