Azimio la Umoja leaders on Friday, June 2, vowed to scuttle plans to pass the Finance Bill 2023 ahead of the reading of budget estimates by Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung'u on Thursday, June 8.
Led by the National Assembly Leader of Minority Opiyo Wandayi, the leaders - while speaking at an event in Kisumu County - opined that there was no need for the CS to read the budget estimates over the faction's opposition to the Finance Bill.
He noted that the contentious Finance Bill was key to the budget because it paved the way for the taxation which finances the budget.
The Azimio leader opined that the only remedy was for President William Ruto's administration to withdraw the bill and begin the process afresh.
"We confirm that we reject in totality the Finance Bill. In fact, if the finance Bill is not withdrawn by Treasury and not introduced afresh, then there is no need for anyone to come to Parliament and read the budget," he stated.
Wandayi's sentiments were echoed by Kisumu West Member of Parliament Rosa Buyu who hit out at Ruto for the taxation policies which she stated would see the cost of living shoot up.
"You baptised the common man with a new name called hustlers but the first thing that you did was to ensure that all the prices of commodities of the hustlers went up," she stated.
However, the leaders did not detail how they would counter the government in opposing the Bill set to be debated in Parliament in the coming week.
On the other hand, the National Assembly Leader of Majority Kimani Ichung'wah revealed that they were ready to counter the Azimio faction during the debate.
He noted that the team focused on backing the Bill with data and statistics on how it will be beneficial to Kenyans.
CS Nd'ungu is set to read the first Kenya Kwanza budget on June 8 as has been the tradition over the years.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly Budget Committee led by Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro indicated that the budget would mainly focus on projects that benefit Kenyans in the short and long run.
Some of the projects to be prioritised include the school feeding programme and the construction of classes for Junior Secondary Schools (JSS).
