Virtually every commentator is a pundit on the Finance Bill 2023 and its supposed deleterious effects on the economy. Few of these "pundits" are able to give more than a cursory overview of the bill without regurgitating the spiel that condemns the bill wholesale.

Fewer still can give an explication that shows them to have read to familiarise themselves with the special issue of the Kenya Gazette Supplement that the National Assembly Bills 2023 are published. For most, their understanding of the Finance Bill is limited to the views of their favourite politician.

It is good for citizens to know what the Finance Bill 2023 is. For starters, it is not the introduction of new laws by the Executive. It is the amendment of laws that already exist. The preamble of this bill as published in the Kenya Gazette describes it as "an act of Parliament to amend the laws relating to various taxes and duties: and for matters incidental thereto enacted by the Parliament of Kenya."