Echoing the disability community's rallying cry, Senator Asige condemned the framework as a "direct attack" on hard-won legislative gains, warning that the proposed changes introduce unnecessary bureaucratic gatekeeping that threatens to undermine dignity and financial relief for citizens living with disabilities and their families.
At the core of Asige’s opposition is the KRA's proposal to establish severity classifications—ranging from moderate to profound—that would grant fractional tax exemptions (such as 30 or 60 per cent) based on hierarchical bands of medical impairment.
Asige argued that creating a sliding scale of relief risks marginalizing individuals whose conditions are classified as mild, emphasizing that "equity isn’t a ladder" and access to tax support should not be dictated by a hierarchy of human suffering.
Furthermore, she raised objections to a proposed KSh 1,000 processing fee for applications, pointing out that such financial hurdles directly conflict with the spirit and letter of the Persons with Disabilities Act, which removed assessment charges to ease economic burdens.
The senator also questioned restrictive clauses in the draft guidelines that limit applications to a single parent or guardian, noting that the arrangement fails to adequately recognize households where both parents share caregiving responsibilities or families raising multiple children with disabilities.
Pointing out that caregivers already face steep expenses for specialized schooling, medication, and therapy, Asige announced plans to file formal interventions to compel the Treasury and KRA to scrap provisions inconsistent with constitutional protections.
Her pushback aligns with resistance from other leaders, such as EALA MP David Ole Sankok, as public scrutiny intensifies over the contentious tax overhaul.
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https://peopledaily.digital/inside-politics/crystal-asige-questions-kra-over-new-tax-rules-for-persons-with-disabilities
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