Press Release
The Devolution System has Added Salt to the Wound!

Since the Devolution system of government commenced eight months ago, we have witnessed many problems leading to endless strikes and demonstrations by the public. The most recent turmoil is that witnessed in major towns whereby hawkers and businessmen opposed county government's moves to impose taxes on all goods and services including animals and poultry. The most saddening in some counties are reports that the public will be forced to pay taxes to view their dead ones in mortuaries! Politicians are having a hard time defending the new devolution system with some saying that the problems witnessed emanate from lack of acquaintance with the system. Some are pointing fingers at the National Government as the culprit in destabilizing the new system while others state it's too early and it requires ample time to succeed.

The Islamic movement of Hizb ut Tahrir East Africa wishes to mention important steps that elaborate the genesis of the current situation as follows;

First, it is obvious there is lack of a good system to look after the affairs of Kenyans. Problems facing the public are evidence that the devolution system has rubbed salt in the wound instead of healing it. The question is, until when will the system that takes care of the public be a matter of trial and error?

Second, the move to impose huge taxes on the public is an act of exploitation and injustice which should be opposed. A point to note here is that taxes are the major source of revenues for governments that implement the Capitalist system which includes Kenya. Taxes comprise 90% of revenues in Capitalist governments. Therefore, the move by county governments to exploit the public by imposing such taxes is not surprising but a confirmation that the Kenyan society is led by the Capitalist ideology which is a system of exploitation and oppression. The truth remains that in Capitalist governments, the public carries the tax burden which eventually ends in the pockets of rulers!

Thirdly, slogans of constitution change and new governance structures are nothing but moves by Capitalism to gain time and hide its shame of failing to take care of people. Failure of this system is also witnessed in major Capitalist countries like America and Britain. They have also witnessed demonstrations and violence by the public complaining about the harsh living conditions.

Lastly, we state that a solution to the situation cannot be obtained from Capitalism but it should be sourced from another ideology which is Islam. We in Hizb ut Tahrir state that Islam has the best economic system which is implemented by the Khilafah "Caliphate" state. The Islamic economy is built on the basis of distribution of resources to all citizens so that it does not remain under the control of a select few. Citizens under the Khilafah "Caliphate" state benefit from all resources as there are no privatization policies of public resources in an Islamic economic system. These enables the Khilafah "Caliphate" state to look after the affairs of its citizens without imposing taxes on them. In case there is a shortage of funds in the state treasury (Baitul Mal) such that the state is unable to take care of the basic needs of citizens like food, it is only the rich who are taxed. We therefore call upon the Kenyan society to wake up and start looking at Islam as a system that has capabilities to fully solve their problems under the Khilafah "Caliphate" state.

Shabani Mwalimu
Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in East Africa