Embakasi East MP Babu Owino on Wednesday, June 14, explained why he missed the Finance Bill, 2023, voting process in Parliament.
In a statement, the lawmaker explained that he had arranged to meet his lawyer to prepare for his defence hearing at Milimani Law Courts slated for Thursday, June 15.
After informing National Assembly Minority Leader, Opiyo Wandayi, about his situation, he left for the meeting.
The MP blamed National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula for the mishap, indicating that the original plan from the Parliamentary leadership was for the voting process to take place after the third reading.
He, therefore, read malice in the situation, pointing out that several MPs from the Azimio la Umoja coalition missed out on the voting process because of the initial directive.
“I realised that the Speaker changed and made another ruling that voting was to take place on Wednesday. By that time, so many members were depending on the fact that voting will occur next week and that explains why so many members missed, especially from the Azimio Coalition,” he stated.
Further, he castigated the passing of the Finance Bill in the Second Reading claiming that it was a recipe for disaster looming for Kenyans.
“I want to state that the Finance Bill 2023 is retrogressive. Even if (ODM party leader) Raila Odinga instructed me to support it, I would not do it because of my allegiance to my people,” he clarified.
On the other hand, Mumias East MP Peter Salasya wondered why an official communication was not issued for MPs to suspend their travel ahead of the Finance Bill voting process. The legislator is currently in Morocco.
How the Voting Process Happened
Out of 257 MPs present at the August House, 176 voted for the bill while 81 legislators voted against it during the second reading. The Bill now moves to the Third and final reading where legislators get a chance to amend certain clauses within the Bill.
The Finance Bill, 2023, was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, June 13, by the National Assembly’s Finance and National Planning Committee.
The committee, chaired by Molo MP Kuria Kimani, advocated for certain amendments in the Bill to cater to the concerns raised by the public.
This involved reduction of the Housing Fund tax from three percent to 1.5 percent. Further, the proposed digital tax was revised to five percent from the initial 16 percent.
Some of the clauses such as the proposed 16 per cent Value Added Tax were not revised.
