The National Assembly will not be recalled for a special meeting to consider President William Ruto’s reservations on the now-abandoned Finance Bill, 2024 which led to mass protests and a breach of Parliament House on Tuesday.
Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula, who received President Ruto’s memorandum on reservations to disagree with the Finance Bill on Wednesday evening is set to notify each of the 349 members of parliament on the implications of the President’s action.
The Rules of the House require that when a message is received from the President, when Parliament is not in session, the Speaker shall immediately send the message to each member and deliver the message to the House of Representatives the following day. sit down
This means the earliest the National Assembly will consider the President’s memorandum asking lawmakers to delete all provisions of the Finance Bill, 2024 is July 22 after the House recess on Thursday.
“When the message from the President is read, the message will be considered to have been placed before the House of Representatives and the Speaker may direct that the message be carried out immediately, or set a day for the consideration of the message, or refer the message to the relevant Committee of the House of Representatives for consideration ,” said Standing Order 42 (3).
Lawmakers took a month-long recess on Thursday morning after lawmakers approved a motion for the deployment of the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) to help police deal with unrest after youth-led protests saw the invasion of Parliament.
Dr Ruto on Wednesday acknowledged pressure from young protesters and concerns from Kenyans and called on the National Assembly to withdraw the bill in its entirety.
The bill will automatically become law within 14 days if the President does not return it to the House of Representatives with a memorandum recommending its removal.
The recommendation to remove the entire clause means the bill is technically dead.
According to the President’s opinion which was received by Mr. Wetangula on Wednesday evening, it has been considered that it has been disclosed to the Finance and National Planning Committee.
The committee chaired by MP Molo Kuria Kimani is expected to consider the President’s memorandum and submit a report when the DPR reconvenes on July 22, 2024.
Lawmakers will be required to vote on the President’s recommendation to remove the entire bill by voting clause by clause.
It will require MPs seeking to retain clauses in the bill or withdraw the President’s memorandum to raise 233 MPs or a two-thirds majority.
Once all the clauses of the bill are deleted, it can only be restarted after six months.
The bill will become law on June 30 and will be in effect from July 1, 2024 until June 30, 2025.
“I refuse to agree to the Finance Bill 2024, and refer the Bill for reconsideration by the National Assembly with a recommendation for the deletion of all these clauses,” said Dr Ruto in a memorandum informing Parliament of the reservation on the revenue raising law.
The government is pushing for a bill to raise Sh347 billion in the 2024/25 financial year to reduce Dr Ruto’s Sh3.92 trillion budget deficit.
Dr Ruto last week came down and accepted the National Assembly’s National Finance and Planning proposal to remove the proposed value added tax (VAT) on bread, 2.5 percent motor vehicle levy, 25 percent excise duty on cooking oil and the controversial environment. levy imposed on plastic packaging materials at the rate of Sh150 per kilogram.
If MPs vote to remove all clauses from the Finance Bill 2024 as proposed by Dr Ruto, the government will proceed with revenue raising measures for the 2023/24 financial year.
Kenyan youths have been taking to the streets since last week in a massive campaign to urge lawmakers not to approve the punitive Finance Bill that proposes additional taxes and levies on individuals and businesses, but lawmakers persisted, passing the bill on Tuesday at in the midst of protests happening around the world. 35 out of 47 districts.
In Nairobi, protests that saw a day-long battle in the fastest time in history stormed Parliament House, moments after lawmakers approved the controversial bill through Third Reading.