Embakasi East MP Babu Owino on Wednesday, June 14, provided an explanation for his absence during the voting process of the Finance Bill, 2023, in Parliament.
In a statement, the lawmaker clarified that he had arranged to meet his lawyer to prepare for his defence hearing at Milimani Law Courts slated for Thursday, June 15. Moreover, he underlined that he informed National Assembly Minority Leader, Opiyo Wandayi, about his circumstances before leaving the parliament buildings.
The MP blamed National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula for the mishap, indicating that the original plan from the Parliamentary leadership was for the voting process to take place after the third reading.
The MP read malice in the situation, pointing out that several MPs from the Azimio la Umoja coalition missed out on the voting process because of the initial directive.
“I realised that the speaker made some changes and ruled that voting was to take place on Wednesday. By that time, so many members were anticipating that voting will occur next week. That explains why so many members, especially from the Azimio Coalition missed the sitting ,” he stated.
He strongly criticized the passage of the Finance Bill during the Second Reading, asserting that it posed a looming disaster for Kenyans.
“I want to state that the Finance Bill 2023 is retrogressive. Even if (ODM party leader) Raila Odinga instructed me to support it, I would not do it because of my allegiance to my people,” he clarified.
Conversely, Mumias East MP Peter Salasya, who is currently in Morocco on official business wondered why an communication was not issued for MPs to suspend other engagements ahead of the Finance Bill voting process.
How the Voting Process Happened
Out of the 257 MPs in attendance at the August House, 176 members voted in favor of the bill, while 81 legislators cast their votes against it during the second reading. Consequently, the bill proceeds to the third and final reading, where lawmakers will have an opportunity to propose amendments to specific clauses within the bill.
The Finance Bill, 2023, was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, June 13, by the National Assembly’s Finance and National Planning Committee.
The committee, chaired by Molo MP Kuria Kimani, advocated for certain amendments in the bill to cater to the concerns raised by the public.
This involved reduction of the Housing Fund tax from three percent to 1.5 percent. Further, the proposed digital tax was revised to five percent from the initial 16 percent.
Some of the clauses such as the proposed 16 per cent Value Added Tax on fuel were not revised.
