Nairobi — The proposed 16 percent levy on bread has been dropped following a Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group meeting chaired by President Williaim Ruto.

Finance and Planning Committee chairperson Kimani Kuria in an address to the press asserted that the move has been reached following a series of public participation in which Kenyans unanimously called for the scrapping of the levy from the proposed bill.

"We have listened to the view of Kenyans and we are all in agreement that there are two things that we must do and one of them is that we need to protect Kenyans from the high cost of living and therefore the proposed 16 percent VAT on bread has been dropped," Kuria said.

Kuria had earlier received backlash from Kenyans following his assertions that the levy on bread was to shield Kenyans from the risk of diabetes.

"We had a very long conversation with the Treasury. The initial thinking was that there is concern about diabetes,"

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u had earlier presented the 2024-2025 budget to parliament seeking to scale up taxation in its Medium-Term Revenue Strategy.

This targeted an array of products including edible oils as well as an eco-levy on all plastic products.

Already lobby groups of lobby groups as well as a section of Kenyans have staged protests in the Capital Nairobi with a planned sit-in in parliament buildings ahead of the tabling of the Bill on the floor of the house.

The legislators also resolved to exempt mobile money transfer services.

The Government has also removed 2.5 percent proposed levy on motor vehicle owners as it drops contentious proposals from Finance Bill 2024.

President Ruto had convened the Parliamentary Group meeting ahead of Finance Bill 2024 debate in the National Assembly this afternoon.

Finance Committee led by Molo MP Kuria Kimani have hinted that they have proposed amendments into the controversial clauses