Taxation. [Courtesy/GettyImages] At Nairobi’s Muthurwa market, Mary Wanjiku wakes up before dawn to arrange tomatoes and onions at her wooden stall. By evening, she has paid a string of levies—market fees, security charges, and the “compliance” charges demanded by county askaris (officers). What remains is barely enough to feed her family. “I sell to survive, but it feels like I work for the county,” she says. Her lamentation is echoed across Kenya’s informal markets, where traders and small business owners struggle under the weight of a tax system that leans heavily on the poor while letting the wealthy breathe easily.…
Author: By Peter Ongera
Ahadi Kenya Trust CEO Stanley Kamau serves porridge to James Kibara, a disabled, when he hosted over 100 Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and Caregivers of individuals with disabilities for a luncheon in Kiharu Constituency, Murang’a County on Friday May 23rd, 2025.[Boniface Gikandi,Standard] Kenya prides itself on having some of the most progressive disability laws in Africa. The Constitution, the Persons with Disabilities Act, and the National Disability Policy promise economic inclusion for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). But in reality, tax justice for PWDs remains more of a dream than a lived experience. A new study by the National Taxpayers Association…