Finance Bill 2024 Officially Dead: Parliament votes to delete all clauses

This is after the National Assembly, in a Committee of the Whole House, on Thursday afternoon voted in agreement with President William Ruto's reservations and recommendations to delete all clauses of the Finance Bill 2024.

Consequently, no provision that was contained in the Bill shall have legal effect.

"The House has voted in agreement with the President's reservations and recommendations to delete all clauses of the Finance Bill 2024. Following this decision the Bill has been rejected in its entirety.

"I wish to clarify that the import of the decision of the House is that the Bill is lost... In this regard strictly speaking there is no Bill for the Speaker to present to the President for assent as contemplated under Article 115(5) of the Constitution. To signify the decision that the House has taken on the Bill I shall only convey the effect of the decision which is that the Finance Bill 2024 has been rejected. The House is accordingly guided," the Speaker communicated to the House.

During the session to consider the President's recommendation on the Finance Bill, Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wa underscored that the death of the Finance Bill 2024 would come with serious repercussions since any advantages in the proposed law would definitely be dropped.

"...If we were under ordinary circumstances there are probably certain things like the tax amnesty that was being granted to Kenyans that any member of this House would have sought to save from this Bill...Then the Hon. Speaker would have had something to present to the President negating his reservation," said Ichung'wa.

He added: "With the death of this Finance Bill 2024, Kenyans who were going to enjoy tax amnesty for the next one year will not enjoy that amnesty. Also, Kenyans who were also going to be exempted from eTIMS have lost that opportunity."

Negation of the President's recommendation would have required the support of at least 233 Members.