Write I will write again You said I should not hold back if it’s of gain The lamentation, the insights and lamentations more My writing the last time bore A peep into the future and many things more, How is the afterlife? Kiprop was here as he always is Forlorn, shaken and unmistakably disturbed Like everyone else he has heard That the bill is alive and well, ready to execute The mandate of the new regime, on funding and service delivery You see I hear him and share in his concerns For why should I with two sheep Provide one for the feast Even when Mkubwa with his mighty flock Provides one for us to share “He has two too”, the records show So I am forced to fend off one, reluctantly And he the remaining ninety-nine The sheep and grain contribution has a new name now Peculiar, deep and scholarly Oh it is not the same The government utters it dearly Tax is the name, and levy, or are they the same? Peculiar, deep and scholarly these things are Equity should be the guiding principle, I am told In obtaining this tax, it is key Mkubwa’s contribution should be more For his flock is mighty and mine humble, But his kind have devised a means Towards ensuring the contribution is lessened to match that of our kind How is this possible you wonder? I do not share in your concern For I know of lawyers, Bankers, Accountants and Tax specialists This is their doing Have you not heard the saying? That the poor shall stay so as the rich get richer It is robbery Uncle, robbery in broad daylight There is more They say sometimes it is legal To rob the poor and bless the rich Tax Avoidance they call it The law is known to them they flaunt, They are untouchable There is more, I beckon This is not always legal Tax Evasion it is called Those in power are its custodians, often They are untouchable Equity has been ewed A befitting sacrifice to the gods of injustice On the altar of gluttony and greed Or has it been offered to hounds, the ewe? Its mortality has been curtailed either way The old and the youth have fallen victim to this sad state of affairs More so the youth who are told they’re the beneficiaries of tomorrow What is there to hope for? Their tomorrow is on the dinner table Being sumptuously feasted upon By the very people who are to hand it over to them On top of the Tarambas hill I have seen smoke, Emanating from our neighbors’ across the border The fire is burning it seems Holding their heads in despair, wails hovering their and about, The youth are watching helplessly As their future is being consumed by the inequities at the core of taxation and taxes Alas this evil is everywhere, so should be the solution Let the elders convene, I write Whose hair have been greyed By concern, compassion and experience Whether young or old let them convene To give us a codification of taboos of an international scale That transcends borders and generations Let them call it the United Nations Tax Convention For this evil is everywhere, so should be the solution Let it bind all and sundry Old and young alike, across mountains, waters and borders High to the skies and deep into the abyss of hell Let it render punishment and reproach And cure this injustice and restore equity, And enable the youth thrive, own their narrative and that of their future Let it erase tax evasion and tax avoidance The pen is drying but I will write again I will not hold back for it will be of gain The jubilations, the insights and jubilations more My next letter shall bear A peep into the progress and many things more
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