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Hello and welcome to the Money Weekly Newsletter, where we cover the latest update on the long-awaited PAYE cuts.

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Treasury to Begin Public Participation on PAYE Cuts Law

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has announced that the National Treasury will formally begin work on proposed changes to Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax bands that were first promised in February.

The CS said the Treasury has received several proposals from stakeholders, in addition to the government's initial plan to make the first Ksh30,000 of monthly income tax-free.

Under the government's proposal, the PAYE rate on the next Ksh20,000 of taxable income would be reduced from 30% to 25%.

The CS added that some stakeholders, including banks, have also proposed a 5% reduction across all PAYE tax bands.

The proposals will now undergo public participation before a Bill is drafted and tabled in Parliament. However, the exact dates for the public participations are still unknown.

“This suggestion about Pay As You Earn actually came from the government. It is the government's proposal, and we are going to present it to Kenyans,” he said.

“In fact, that is one of the assignments I'm going to start on immediately—the discussion on how to reduce taxes on Pay As You Earn.”

The PAYE reforms were initially expected in February 2026, but were deferred to the Finance Bill because of the proximity of the timelines.

However, when the Finance Bill was tabled, the PAYE proposals were missing, with the CS explaining that the government was still conducting simulations on the various proposals to determine how the tax reduction would be structured.

At the same time, President William Ruto said there had been some resistance within the Treasury because of the revenue the government would forgo from the PAYE cuts.

“The Treasury came back and said, ‘Oh, Mr President, you know this is going to be very big. You know it’s going to cost us Ksh40 billion in this budget,” he stated.

Here is a quick recap of the top news stories for the week:

• Rwanda has ended its participation in Kenya's G2G fuel importation programme and will instead source petroleum directly from OQ Trading, the Omani government's energy trading firm. While Rwanda will stop buying fuel through Kenyan oil marketers, it is expected to continue using the Port of Mombasa and the Kenya Pipeline Company network for transportation and storage. Rwandan energy officials and their Kenyan counterparts have already signed documents for the arrangement.

• The Kenya Ports Authority is spending Ksh8.3 billion to widen a 1.4-kilometre section of Port Road in Mombasa, making it one of Kenya's costliest road projects at about Ksh5.96 billion per kilometre. The project was awarded to a joint venture between Stecol Corporation and Miliki Development Company. The cost far exceeds that of recent projects such as the Dongo Kundu Bypass, Kwa Jomvu–Mariakani Road and Rironi–Mau Summit Road. Contract documents also show Ksh1.9 billion has been set aside for preliminary items, contingencies and variations.

• NTSA says it deliberately excluded eCitizen as the payment platform for instant traffic fines to protect motorists from fraud and SMS scams. Director General Nashon Kondiwa said motorists are instead required to pay at KCB branches or agents, where they can first verify the payment reference before completing the transaction, reducing the risk of falling victim to fraud. Official notifications issued to motorists will include the vehicle registration number, the location of the offence, the traffic violation committed and a payment reference that can be verified before payment is made.

• KNEC has launched an e-Certificate platform that allows former KCSE and KCPE candidates to access, download and verify their examination certificates online. The platform covers candidates who sat national examinations between 1989 and 2025. Users must register using an email address, complete identity verification and enter their examination details. Applicants will pay about Ksh1,200, plus VAT and eCitizen charges, after which they can instantly download a digitally signed PDF certificate. 

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How to Verify an NTSA Instant Traffic Fine SMS

NTSA says genuine instant fine notifications are only sent through its official SMS code following the rise in scams targeting motorists.

Before making any payment, motorists are advised to take a moment to verify that the message is authentic.

Watch the video to learn how to identify genuine NTSA traffic instant fine alerts and avoid unverified payment requests.

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How to Verify an NTSA Instant Traffic Fine SMS NTSA says genuine instant fine notifications are only sent through its official SMS code. B... See more

That’s a wrap for this week’s Money Weekly!

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