Raila-led coalition lines up eight amendments to the Finance Bill

Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga. [File, Standard] Raila Odinga-led Azimio coalition has lined up eight amendments to the Finance Bill 2023 that is set for the third reading today. There is likelihood of a showdown between Azimio-affiliated lawmakers and those allied to President William Ruto's Kenya Kwanza. Ruto wants the Bill passed so that he his administration can undertake its financial obligations. On Sunday, he pleaded with lawmakers from across the political divide to approve the Bill. At least 10 amendments to the Finance Bill have been lined up, with eight of them being proposed by the opposition while two are from legislators allied to the government side. National Assembly Finance Committee Chairman Kuria Kimani said the proposed amendments will be tabled before the House where members will have an opportunity to debate them before they are subjected to a vote. "We have received 10 amendments to the Finance Bill 2023, eight of them being from Azimio members and two of them from the government side. They will be brought to the House where members will debate them and then subject them to a vote," said Kimani. National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi said the opposition is pushing to vote on each clause to amend contentious issues such as the housing levy, before the Bill is subjected to a vote by MPs. Wandayi said the opposition is keen to ensure that punitive measures introduced by the Kenya Kwanza regime - which will make life difficult for ordinary citizens - are amended. "Members of Azimio coalition are going to introduce amendments to the Finance Bill 2023 on the housing levy and taxation clauses to ensure that they are not punitive to Kenyans and also vote clause by clause to ensure that the ordinary citizens emerge winners at the end of the day," said Wandayi. ODM National Chairman John Mbadi said MPs are going to debate the Finance Bill clause by clause before they go to the final vote and that if their colleagues insist on having it passed as it is they will have no option but to vote against it in its entirety. Mbadi said the best thing is to have significant amendments so that the House can support it irrespective of party affiliation. National Assembly. The opposition pushing for amendments to contentious issues such as the housing levy. [Elvis Ogina, Standard] "The opposition is not opposing the Finance Bill 2023 just for the sake of it, we want amendments to be done to ensure that clauses that are coming up with taxation measures that will overburden Kenyans are amended that is why we want our colleagues from Kenya Kwanza to also support this," said Mbadi. Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi has proposed three amendments seeking to have imported fish deleted from items earmarked for excise tax re-introduce VAT on helicopters and delete 35 per cent PAYE band. Azimio Legal Advisor Paul Mwangi said that they are waiting for the outcome of the voting of Finance Bill 2023 and if it is passed without amendments they will have no option but to move to court to challenge it. Last week the finance bill 2023 report was passed by the National Assembly during its second reading with 176 out of 257 MPs voting in favour of the bill while 81 opposed while 92 legislators were absent during the voting exercise. ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has made it clear that disciplinary measures await party MPs who will vote in support of the Finance Bill as it is currently constituted and those who will be absent during voting. "All Kenyans are in agreement that the Kenya Kwanza regime is wrong in this matter, that is why we will take disciplinary action against our members who will support a Bill that is aimed at making Kenyans more poorer than they are today," said Sifuna. The Finance Bill 2023 has 84 clauses and seeks to amend the following laws: the Income Tax Act (Cap. 470); the Value Added Tax Act (No. 35 of 2013); the Tax Appeals Tribunal Act (No. 40 of 2013); the Excise Duty Act (No. 23 of 2015); the Tax Procedures Act (No. 29 of 2015); the Miscellaneous Fees and Levies Act (No. 29 of 2016). Other clauses are: the Unclaimed Financial Assets Act (No. 40 of 2011); the Statutory Instruments Act (No. 23 of2013); the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act (Cap, 131), the Kenya Roads Board Act, 1999, the Kenya Revenue Authority Act, 1995, the Employment Act, 2007 and the Retirement Benefits (Deputy President and Designated State Officers) Act (No. 8 of 2015) The amendments proposed to the above laws provide a raft of tax policy measures which aim at yielding additional revenue of Sh 211 billion for the Fiscal Year 2023/24 which is part of the Sh2.571 trillion projected revenues for the said year.

Raila-led coalition lines up eight amendments to the Finance Bill

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