Speaker Wetang'ula orders MPs to draft another Finance Bill 2024 by July 24

Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) Moses Wetang'ula has directed Parliament to start an expeditious process of enacting the Finance Bill 2024/2025 afresh and table a new Bill on or before July 24, 2024.

Wetang'ula has directed that the supplementary estimates tabled before the parliament on February 14, 2024, be referred to the Budget and Appropriation Committee and the Departmental committees of the NA.

"The Budget and Appropriation Committee is required to guide the process, seek public views and report to the house on or before July 24, to enable the house to subsequently consider the supplementary estimates and the supplementary appropriation legislation to give effect the revised fiscal framework and proposed expenditure reductions," stated Wetang'ula in a notification to the Parliament.

Members of the public, experts and lobby groups will be required to submit their views on various proposals including alternatives of raising revenue without imposing heavy taxation on burdened Kenyans and measures to prevent wastage of public funds on unnecessary expenditures.

Wetang'ula directed the Clerk of the National Assembly Samuel Njoroge to circulate the notification to the Members of the Parliament, publish the supplementary estimates for the Financial Year 2024/2015 and attendant documents submitted by the National Treasury on the parliamentary website.

The Clerk is also required to ensure that the attendant sittings of the committees are held within the precincts of the parliament in line with the current austerity measures and expenditure reductions.

"Should the available meeting rooms be inadequate, the affected committee (s) is to hold its sittings in other government facilities," Wetang'ula stated, directing Njoroge to facilitate the relevant committees to consider the supplementary estimates.

The process is starting again after the Bill passed by the MPs last month was thrown out following widespread public uproar which prompted beleaguered President William Ruto to reject it and send it back to the parliament for reconsideration.

Members of the public held protests countrywide against the Bill that proposed an exploitative taxation framework.

The new Bill will include cutdowns on budgetary allocations to state agencies, constitutional commissions among others and include austerity measures to ensure prudent use of public funds.