On Thursday, July 25, the lawmakers voted to delete all 69 clauses of the controversial bill.
The Finance Bill 2024 is now dead and buried after members of Kenya’s National Assembly have voted to delete it in its entirety.
On Thursday, July 25, the lawmakers voted to delete all 69 clauses of the controversial bill. This followed a Committee of the Whole House which voted in agreement with President William Ruto’s reservations and recommendations to delete all clauses.
They include clauses 2-26 relating to the Income Tax Act (Cap 470), clauses 27-35 relating to the Value Added Tax Act and clauses 36-42 relating to the Excise Duty Act.
Other clauses deleted included (43-49) relating to the Miscellaneous Fees and Levies Act, clauses (50-62) relating to the Tax Procedures Act and clauses (63-69) relating to the Miscellaneous Act.
President William Ruto signs into law the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, 2024 on April 24, 2024. /PCS
“I beg to report that the Committee of the Whole House has considered the President’s recommendations to the Finance Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 30 of 2024) and its approval thereof, without amendments. Therefore, deleting all clauses of the Bill,” National Assembly Deputy Speaker, Gladys Shollei announced.
Following this, none of the clauses proposed in the Bill which ultimately triggered nationwide protests, 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, Moses Wetangula, communicated to the House.
Any move to negate the deletion of all 69 clauses would have required the support of at least 233 members, that is, a two-thirds majority.
On Tuesday, June 25, the MPs passed the Finance Bill 2024 after the third reading, after 195 Members of Parliament voted to pass it while 106 others rejected it and three votes were spoiled, paving the way for Ruto to assent it into law before Ruto’s announcement that he rejected the Bill, following the Gen Z-led protests which nearly brought the country to its knees.
Constitutional Procedure for Returning a Bill
After a bill is passed by Parliament, it is presented to the President for assent. The President has 14 days to either assent to the bill or refer it back to Parliament with a memorandum outlining specific concerns.
In this case, President Ruto exercised his constitutional right to refer the Finance Bill 2024 back to Parliament. The memorandum detailed the particular clauses or provisions the President disagreed with and suggested necessary amendments. However, all the 69 clauses were erased.
Upon receiving the President’s memorandum, Parliament must reconsider the bill, which it did. According to Article 115 of the Constitution, if the President refers a bill back, Parliament can either accept the proposed amendments or reject them.
If Parliament agrees with the President’s recommendations, the bill is amended accordingly and sent back to the President for assent. However, if Parliament disagrees with the President’s amendments, it can override the President’s veto.
To do this, the National Assembly must pass the bill again with a two-thirds majority. If successful, the bill becomes law even without the President’s assent, and in this case, it would have been likely if the MPs attempted the near-impossible.
National Assembly Speaker, Moses Wetangula during a past House session. /FILE
