Rigathi Gachagua Speaks on Kenya Kwanza MPs Getting KSh 2m Each to Pass Finance Bill

• The deputy president authoritatively said the government did not buy lawmakers to vote for the Finance Bill 2024
• A total of 204 MPs voted for the condemned bill in its second reading on June 20, against the 115 who opposed it
• President William Ruto rejected the bill in its entirety on June 26, referring it to parliament for the deletion of clauses

Kai Eli, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings more than three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Nairobi: Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua says the claim that the lawmakers aligned with the current regime were bankrolled to pass the condemned Finance Bill 2024 is untrue.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua (pictured) denied the claims that the national government splurged KSh 2 million on each MP who voted for the Finance Bill 2024. Photo: Rigathi Gachagua. Source: Facebook

Gachagua said the government had no money to splurge on such missions.

Did MPs receive KSh 2m each?

He spoke in Murang'a, where he graced a development on Saturday, June 29.

Gachagua regretted that the lawmakers were being castigated on unfounded claims.

"I want to confirm, as the deputy president and deputy party leader of UDA, that we did not give the lawmakers KSh 2 million each. No need to defame each other. From where I sit, there is nothing like that, no such money," Gachagua said.

Juja Member of Parliament George Koimburi had alleged that his colleagues were each offered KSh 2 million to vote 'yes' on the Finance Bill 2024.

Koimburi, one of the 115 MPs who voted against the bill, claimed he refused the bribe and expressed his firm opposition to the proposed legislation.

Why did Ruto reject Finance Bill 2024?

The highlight of the finance bill saga was President William Ruto announcing its withdrawal.

He said he had conceded to pressure from Kenyans who had taken to the streets to disapprove of it.

In a televised address to Kenyans on June 26, Ruto stated he was considerate of the concerns of the citizenry and consulted the lawmakers in his faction before realising his decision.

He sent the bill back to the National Assembly for the deletion of the clauses.

He said he would engage relevant stakeholders in refurbishing the bill's contents, which had attracted massive resistance from Kenyans.

The president, at the same time, noted corruption was depriving the government of revenue and thus stated his resolve to arrest the vice as he sought to close the revenue shortfalls following the withdrawal of the bill.

Ruto also sanctioned the observation of the austerity measures and budget cuts for the government, calling for the reduction in the expenditures in the National Executive and other arms of the state.

Besides, he expressed readiness to engage the Kenyan young population that engineered the mass action protests to reject the bill believed to bear oppressive taxation measures.

The measures sought to raise over KSh 340 billion, part of which the president said would be channelled toward servicing the public debt.

Ordinarily, the president had until June 30 to assent to the bill to make it the new finance law, which would be in force in the 2024/25 fiscal year.

Controversial Finance Bill 2024

• The bill unveiled in May triggered resistance from Kenyans who decried its provisions bearing high taxation measures.
• Among the new taxes proposed therein were the 16% VAT on ordinary bread and the 2.5% motor vehicle circulation tax.
• Kenyans took to the streets to disapprove of the bill, even as the lawmakers passed it in the National Assembly ready for the president's assent.

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