President William Ruto Thursday urged Members of Parliament to pass the contentious Finance Bill 2024 to give his government funds to implement various projects in the education sector.
Speaking during Garissa University’s fifth graduation ceremony in Garissa, Ruto said the bill, through which the government seeks to raise Sh346.7 billion more in revenue through increased taxation, will enable the State to provide meals for students from poor families.
He said the government seeks to invest in school feeding programs to increase and retain school attendance.
“I am asking the MPs to expedite the bill in Parliament so that we can make that facility available to vulnerable children who otherwise will be out of school unless there is a meal for them there,” Ruto said.
He also cited the proposed law as an essential means towards the employment of intern teachers into permanent and pensionable terms.
“Every child deserves a chance,” Ruto said, further appealing on MPs to pass the bill for his government to have money to give university students loans and scholarships.
This came as public outcry, which has since escalated in the country.
The finance committee has proposed a number of changes in the Bill.
The National Treasury has told Parliament that amendments to the proposed finance law will cause a Sh200 billion gap in the revenue projected in the Sh3.992 trillion 2024/2025 budget.
In a letter dated June 19 addressed to the clerk of the National Assembly, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u named the departments to be affected by the budget cuts in the three arms of government if the tax proposals in the Finance Bill 2024 are not approved.
Parliament on Thursday started debating the Bill for the second day.
On Tuesday next week, MPs are set to move amendments approved by the speaker at the committee of the whole house, also known as the bill’s Third Reading.
Legislators will then take a final vote to determine the Finance Bill’s fate before June 30, before the 2024/25 financial year begins on July 1.
Meanwhile in the House, as the MPs started to debate on the finance committee report, Lang’ata Member of Parliament Phelix Odiwuor announced on the floor of the National Assembly that he rejects the contentious Finance Bill, 2024 in totality.
Jalang’o, as the MP is popularly known, said he arrived at the decision due to the fact that the Bill, if passed into law, will seemingly affect the common lower class citizen.
The legislator has in recent times run into trouble with the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party, on whose ticket he was elected, due to his perceived dalliance with President William Ruto and the ruling Kenya Kwanza alliance.
His decision to go against the Bill comes as a shock as he had already been subjected to trolling on social media with many expecting him to support it.
He said he had spoken to Ruto about his decision on the Bill and obtained his blessing.
He said most of Generation Z, who have been credited with igniting the ongoing anti-Finance Bill protests, reside within the city, hence – unlike them – he will be answerable to them if he goes against their wishes and demands.
“First of all, I reject the Finance Bill, 2024. Immediately it touched everything around the common person like M-Pesa, cars, sanitary pads…I looked back and the whole generation in Lang’ata out here, having their voices so loud, even after the amendments, I had to make the choice that I’ve made today,” said Jalang’o.
“Out here is the Generation Z that I talk to everyday; I interact with them on Twitter, TikTok and everywhere…when most of you will have gone back to the villages, we will be with them here in Nairobi. Most of you know, I’m a friend to the President, I spoke to him and he knows very well that this is my stand.”
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