Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has gone to court to stop the ongoing public participation in the Finance Bill 2024.

According to Omtatah and Dr. Benjamin Magare, the National Assembly introduced the Finance Bill 2024 before parliament reviewed and approved the Fiscal Year 2024/2025 budget projections.

PHOTO | COURTESY Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah
 

They believe the Finance Bill 2024 is illegitimate and unconstitutional since it is based on the CS's FY 2024/2025 income predictions submitted to the National Assembly on April 30, 2024.

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They now want the court to declare the case urgent, claiming that if the court does not intervene, there is no alternative.

"The petitioners are aggrieved that, contrary to the procedure laid out in the constitution, the National Assembly is considering the Finance Bill 2024 before it considers and approves the Appropriations Act, 2024," reads the court papers.

PHOTO | COURTESY Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah

They argue that it breached Section 39 (4)(a) of the Public Finance Management Act, which mandates the National Assembly to verify that the total income generated is commensurate with the authorized fiscal framework.

They say that the National Assembly's decision to approve the Finance Act 2024 before the Appropriations Act 2024 is a bold plan and calculated corruption designed to dupe Kenyan taxpayers by collecting unbudgeted income to fund unbudgeted spending.