Senate Speaker Amason Kingi claims that the court's conservatory orders suspending the Finance Act 2023 are against the public interest.
In his affidavit, Kingi alleges that the order issued suspends the government's revenue-raising measures, effectively bringing the government to a halt.
According to the Speaker, the government will incur serious consequences for the money lost in uncollected taxes due to suspending the Finance Act 2023's implementation.
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Kingi says that If the conservatory orders remain in effect, the impugned tax is unlikely to be recovered, and this will cause a void in the operations or governance structure that, even for a short time, is likely to have very serious consequences for the citizenry.
He now requests that the court vacate the orders because there is no imminent threat if they are vacated.
In response to whether the Senate was involved in the Finance Act 2023, the speaker states that after consulting with the speaker of the National Assembly, they determined that the Bill does not concern county governments and hence must be discussed only in the National Assembly in accordance with the constitution.
Sen. Okiya Omtatah of Busia requested that Senate Speaker Amason Kingi be cross-examined on his affidavit on Finance Bill 2023. Omtatah claims that hypothetical accusations are contained in Kingi's affidavit.
"The timelines apparent in the affidavit conflict with what actually happened," Omtatah asserts while discussing Finance Bill 2023.
The senator believes that cross-examining Kingi's evidence is necessary for the petition to be properly considered. The senator further claims that the Speaker's letter does not waive the constitutional obligation that the two Houses of Parliament agree on all bills, regardless of whether they affect counties or administrations.
