Linda Mwananchi leader Edwin Sifuna has pledged to cut Sh500bn from Kenya’s national budget and scrap taxes on fuel, electricity and housing if his political outfit wins the 2027 General Election.
Speaking on Friday at the official opening of the party’s offices in Lavington, Nairobi, the Nairobi senator said his administration would target government waste and redirect public funds towards easing the cost of living.
Sifuna said the proposed measures would be implemented within the first 100 days of taking office, beginning with cuts to what he described as unnecessary government expenditure and extravagance at State House.
“We want to assure Kenyans that we have a comprehensive plan. As Linda Mwananchi, we want to spend our first 100 days in office cutting the wastage in government and the extravagance at State House,” he said.
He cited the allocation to State House in the 2026/2027 national budget as an example of spending his administration would seek to reduce.
The approved budget estimates allocate Sh13.54bn to State House, including Sh12.52bn for recurrent expenditure and Sh1.03bn for development.
The allocation covers administrative and operational costs associated with State House and State Lodges.
Sifuna questioned the government’s spending priorities, comparing the allocation with the financial demands facing essential public services, particularly healthcare.
“How can it be that nurses have been on strike asking for only Sh1.5bn and State House is allocated Sh12bn?” he said.
He argued that cutting government expenditure would create room for tax relief without undermining the delivery of public services.
“We want to cut Sh500bn from the government budget and, once we have done that, return the money to Kenyans. We want to remove taxes on fuel, electricity and this thing called the housing levy,” he said.
Taxes and levies form part of the cost of fuel and electricity, with their effects extending to transport, the prices of goods and the cost of delivering services.
The Affordable Housing Levy is charged at 1.5% of an employee’s gross monthly salary, with employers required to make a matching contribution.
However, Sifuna did not specify which government departments or budget lines would be targeted to achieve the proposed Sh500bn reduction.
He also did not provide a detailed breakdown of how the savings would be distributed or explain how the removal of the taxes would affect government revenue.
The proposals place public spending cuts and tax relief at the centre of Linda Mwananchi’s economic agenda ahead of the 2027 General Election.
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