Sifuna responds to Ruto’s “empty” tag with grand plan to cut taxes & fix the economy

Linda Mwananchi presidential aspirant Edwin Sifuna has outlined some of his key priorities for Kenya, highlighting his vision for addressing the country’s pressing challenges and improving the lives of ordinary citizens.

While addressing the press on Saturday, October 9, 2026, the Nairobi Senator identified fixing healthcare, reducing taxation, eliminating wastage in government and fixing the education sector in the country among the priority areas.

In apparent response to president William Ruto who has in recent days dismissed him as “empty” Sifuna unpacked his vision and dismissed Ruto as failure who is behind most of the challenges facing Kenyans.

He revealed that he has assembled a team of experts that is working on a comprehensive and well-structured manifesto that will translate his ideas into practical policies and actionable solutions aimed at driving economic growth, strengthening governance, creating opportunities for young people, and improving service delivery for Kenyans.

According to the leader of The Equitable Party (TEP), Kenyans are heavily taxed to finance luxury spending in certain offices and wastage, and his team of experts has identified areas of wastage, totalling between 500 billion and 1.8 trillion shillings.

“They (team of experts) are telling me that it is possible to have a balanced budget in 15 months by doing certain specific things. Number one, they can cut from the budget between Ksh.500 billion and Ksh.1.8 trillion in wastage, and we can go line by line and say this is where the wastage is.

Sifuna explained that eliminating government wastage would create fiscal room to lower taxes without placing additional pressure on taxpayers through the removal of VAT on fuel, the abolition of the housing levy and a reduction in VAT on electricity.

“You can remove VAT on fuel, you can remove the housing levy, you can reduce VAT on electricity,” Sifuna explained.

He noted that such measures would ease the cost of essential goods and services, leaving Kenyans with more disposable income to meet their household needs, support their families and improve their quality of life.

Sifuna lamented that education which takes a significant portion of the national budget has deliberately been turned into a cash cow with schools underfunded, understaffed and lacking basic facilities and equipment with frequent strikes by teachers and lecturers every other year.

He cited the lack of data as a major loophole that he intends to address if elected to office by establishing a national data bank of all schools and learners in Kenya to ensure that capitation money is not allocated to ghost students and schools.

“In education, the government does not have data on anything. The government cannot tell you how many students we have, how many schools we have, or data on the schools we have. They are doing that to cover up for the capitation money. The first thing we want to do is to have a national data bank so Kenyans can know how many students we have.

Sifuna also promised to sort out the mess in the health sector by eliminating fraud and ensuring timely payment to keep facilities operational with adequate staffing.

“We will give all hospitals in Kenya a guarantee that as far as you render a service, 30 days, we pay you. But if we catch you once, one time only, trying to clear a fraudulent claim, you are out of the system,” he added.

The Nairobi Senator brushed aside the nicknames that President Ruto has been hurling at him, saying that they stem from anger after sensing that the ground has shifted and the incumbent is headed for a defeat at the ballot.