Monday, July 3, 2023 – In a significant turn of events regarding the petition against the Finance Act 2023, Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah’s evidence cannot stand.
This is after Senate Speaker Amason Kingi claimed that a letter cited by Omtatah which saw President William Ruto’s Finance Act suspended had already been withdrawn.
Kingi argued that he wrote to the Speaker of the National Assembly withdrawing a letter dated June 15, warning that the Finance Act 2023 would affect the county governments and needed to be discussed by both houses.
However, according to court documents seen on Sunday, July 2, Kingi claimed that the Act does not affect the county governments as alleged and was advised to withdraw the letter illegally obtained and filed as evidence to mislead the court.
He thus argued that the court erred in issuing conservatory orders against the Finance Bill 2023, thus granting Omtatah’s prayers on barring Ruto from enforcing tax hikes.
“I do acknowledge that you indeed wrote to me with regard to the consideration of the Finance Bill 2023 vide your letter dated May 2, 2023. My letter dated June 15, 2023, was therefore sent in error, and I hereby withdraw it and repudiate its contents in its entirety.”
“The position, therefore, remains as set out in my letter dated May 3, 2023, in which I was in agreement that pursuant to the provisions of Articles 95(4)(c), 114,109(3), 209(1) and 221(1) of the Constitution, the Finance Bill (National Assembly Bills No.14 of 2023) is a Bill considered only by the National Assembly, does not concern county governments and does not affect the operations of the Senate,” noted the submission in part.
Omtatah, in his petition, had argued that the National Assembly Speaker, Moses Wetangula, did not consult his Senate counterpart before allowing the Finance Bill 2023 to be read and voted for.
He lamented that The National Assembly violated Article 110(3) of the Constitution by introducing the Finance Bill 2023 to the plenary without the Senate’s input.
However, in response to Kingi’s application, Omtatah stated that the withdrawal was an afterthought by the Speaker and did not affect the ruling rendered by the court.
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