Prime Minister Meloni fires back at Trump:
“President Trump, these constant, unprovoked attacks are senseless.
As for my popularity, being your friend certainly has not helped it, nor does it depend on my relationship with you. My popularity depends on my ability to defend Italy’s national interest, and that is exactly what I have always done.
That is also what I did regarding the American military bases in Italy. Their use is governed by agreements that we have always respected, and that cannot be violated as long as I am Prime Minister. Italy remains a sovereign nation.
In any case, my popularity is none of your concern. I suggest you focus on yours.”
“If Somalis decided to pull their resources out of Kenya, it will collapse in a day”..This is part of a statement by @AlinurMohamed_
By all means, pull your resources out of Kenya, let it collapse!! We will rebuild from scratch.
Every time a conversation on how Eastleigh business are taxed arises, you see such statements. We won’t cave. Watu walipe tax!!
Qatar said it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, you can come to the World Cup, just don’t drink alcohol at the stadium.
USA said you can’t come. Who you are or where you come from matters. We’ll decide who can and can’t participate. This isn’t a sport for everyone.
Kenyan police have fired tear gas and used water cannon on Nanyuki protesters for a second week over a US-only Ebola quarantine facility at a nearby military base. Rights groups report at least one person killed as construction continues.
Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb reports.
This is Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong travelling from Singapore to Laos aboard a scheduled commercial flight operated by Lao Airlines, alongside ordinary passengers (left in the photo below).
Meanwhile, whenever we raise questions about President Ruto's use of expensive chartered private jets, UDA apologists rush to tell us that a President cannot possibly use Kenya Airways or other commercial airlines.
Yet these same people constantly tell us that Kenya should become like Singapore.
How do you become Singapore if you refuse to learn from what Singapore actually does?
And the examples don't stop there.
• Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico recently travelled to Canada for the G7 Summit using Air Canada and has also flown on scheduled Aeromexico services, including a Boeing 787 flight from Barcelona.
• Maia Sandu of Moldova is known for regularly using commercial airlines, including low-cost carrier Wizz Air, for official travel within Europe.
My issue is not travel.
My issue is unnecessary expenditure and the lack of transparency surrounding these chartered flights.
If Kenya Airways was already operating flights to South Africa or Azerbaijan at around the same time, why should taxpayers bear the cost of chartering an expensive private jet?
At a time when Kenyans are being told to pay more taxes and tighten their belts, leadership should also demonstrate restraint.
That is the conversation we should be having.
KRA wants a share of dowry money.
There is a guy called Kamau.
When it was time to buy his wife, he mobilized his most monied buddies.
He put them in a WhatsApp group. The fundraising began.
Those boys were loaded. They were only 35.
By by the time they were done, they had contributed 4.5 million shillings.
Others who were not in the group wired money directly to Kamau's bank account.
The ruracio D-Day arrived.
And as always, the one and only Kikuyu ruracio anthem was tuned.
🎶 Wero... Werokamu guku kwa wa Kanini... Werokamu... 🎶
Before they could finish the song, more than 2,000 people had pulled up.
Wakaanza kutoa funjo. Then one man stood on a stool and announced they could not sit until they had given Kamau top up money to add to the dowry.
The donation book was hurriedly brought. People lined up. Cash started flowing.
By the end of the day, another 2.8 million shillings had been raised.
Kamau took the money and banked it.
Total dowry contribution sitting at his bank account: 8m shillings.
The ceremony became the talk of Gatundu South.
Kamau paid his dowry. Collected his wife. And went home peacefully.
• Lesson 1. Monied friends are good for paying dowry.
I have no clue how. But sometime later, Kamau was marked for a KRA tax audit.
KRA went straight for his bank statements. They found deposits of 8 million shillings.
Immediately, they baptized the entire amount as undeclared taxable income.
Then demanded: 30% income tax. Penalties plus interest.
Total bill: 2.5 million shillings plus.
When Kamau saw the tax bill, he went mad.
He could try to talk but words would not come out. He nearly swallowed his tongue.
When he came back to real life. He shipped a protest letter to KRA.
He explained the money was dowry contribution from his family, friends and well wishers.
- He produced WhatsApp group fundraising screenshots.
- He produced RTGS confirmations.
- He produced the donation book.
- He even produced videos of the ceremony.
Including footage of the Werokamu song.
KRA could not hear any of it. They only wanted 2.5 million.
When Kamau realized KRA was not playing, he ran to court.
He told the Tribunal:
- My lord, look. I have shown KRA where the money came from.
- I have shown KRA who contributed it.
- I have shown KRA the ceremony.
- What more do they want from me?
KRA responded.
And what they said nearly made the judges fall off their chairs.
They argued the evidence was not convincing.
Why?
• Because the 2,000 plus donors had not sworn affidavits confirming that the money they gave was a donation and not payment for goods or services.
The Tribunal looked at the matter in amusement.
Then ruled.
- Kamau had discharged his burden of proof in full.
- KRA had acted unreasonably by ignoring and disregarding the substantial evidence he provided.
- And most importantly: Income tax is a tax on income. It is not a tax on every deposit appearing in a bank account.
The Tribunal found that KRA was wrong to treat all bank deposits as taxable income without first removing proven non income items such as dowry contributions.
The tax demand was killed.
Kamau won.
KRA retreated to Times Tower. And rested.
Case closed.
• Lesson 2.
- Document everything.
- KRA will push. Push hard.
The Trump administration is planning to send US citizens exposed to Ebola for treatment in
KENYA: https://t.co/lftPuVfjQp @MOH_Kenya I don't see you quoted in this NYT article. When was this going to be shared with the public if true?