MP Kuria Kimani says Finance Bill will not be passed as it is, tells off Azimio

It’s a race against time for the National Assembly’s Finance and Planning Committee which is compiling its report before tabling the Finance Bill 2023 on Tuesday in Parliament.

The Chairman of the Parliamentary finance watchdog Kuria Kimani has hinted at a possible delay in tabling the Bill to Wednesday due to the workload the committee has to contend with.

“Every Kenyan that spoke to us, we will include their remarks, this will be the largest report ever tabled in Parliament. It will be a thousand pages because we must put the views of all Kenyans,” said the Molo Constituency MP.

“However, we cannot go with every Bill, God will give us wisdom to make the best decision. The views Kenyans gave us will not be taken for granted. In the 157 documents, every clause matters.”

With the Finance Bill, 2023 being partially amended by the committee before being tabled in Parliament, the legislator refuted claims by a section of leaders from the opposition Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition that the Bill will be passed in it’s current state.

“Azimio is misguided. The Bill will be passed clause by clause and not a whole Bill. If they have better ideas they can bring it up for amendment when the Bill is tabled. So the Bill cannot pass as a whole. They are lying to the public. There are so many other clauses supported by Kenyans apart from the contested clauses,” said Kimani.

The National Assembly’s Finance and Planning Committee, in making amendments to the Bill is delicately trying to strike a balance between generating revenue for the government in next week’s Thursday budget reading for financial year 2023–2024, while at the same time bearing in mind the harsh economic times occasioned by the high cost of living.

“This has been the most debated Bill in the history of Kenya, it’s like we are doing a referendum. We bear in mind it’s a very aggressive and dynamic Bill, we are seeking to expand the tax base by getting additional revenue without borrowing but we are doing so minding the cost of living,” said the committee Chairman.

The Parliamentary watchdog compiling the report on the Finance Bill is supported by a technical team that includes officials from the Office of the Attorney General, National Treasury and Kenya Revenue Authority.

The AG is ensuring that all the clauses contained in the Bill are within the legal frame work.

The National Treasury is pushing for the committee to realize its Ksh.2.5 trillion revenue for financial year 2023 - 2024.

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is providing alternative tax variants for clauses affected by amendments.

“We are going clause by clause through thousands of documents. We are going to table on Tuesday, and proceed to other stages of committee of the whole House, second reading then if House business approves by end of next week then we will have completed the debate and discussion on the Finance Bill,” added Kimani.