Speaker Kingi says suspension of Finance Act against public interest

In his affidavit, Kingi claims that the effect of the order issued is to suspend the government’s revenue-raising measures and therefore bring the government to a halt.

According to the Speaker, the government stands to suffer grave prejudice for the revenue lost in uncollected taxes owing to the suspension of the implementation of the Finance ACT 2023.

“If the conservatory orders remain in force, the impugned tax is not likely to be recovered and this will occasion a lacuna in the operations or governance structure which is left unfilled ,even for a short ,is likely to cause very grave consequences to the citizenry," he claims. 

He now wants the court to set aside the orders on grounds that there is no imminent danger if they are set aside.

On whether the Senate was involved in the Finance Act 2023, the speaker says that in consultation with the speaker National Assembly, they resolved that the Bill does not concern county governments and is therefore considered only in the National Assembly in accordance with the constitution.

He is accusing the petitioners in the case, who include Okiya Omtatah of obtaining a letter improperly and producing it in court.