By Brian Okoth
A Kenyan senator has moved to court to block parliamentary debate on a controversial finance bill, arguing its contents are unconstitutional.
Okiya Omtatah, a senator from Western Kenya county of Busia, argues in the petition that the executive, led by President William Ruto, has usurped the powers of Kenya’s National Assembly, the Senate and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in crafting the bill.
The bill, which has attracted criticism from several quarters, seeks to introduce a 3 per cent housing levy on formally employed people, increase income tax by at least 5 per cent among persons earning a monthly salary of Ksh500,000 ($3,606 dollars) or above, and double value added tax (VAT) on petrol from 8 per cent to 16 per cent.
The raft of taxations, according to President Ruto, will raise an extra Ksh289 billion ($2.08 billion) to finance a Ksh3.6 trillion ($26 billion) budget for the financial year 2023/24.
The opposition parties, led by veteran politician Raila Odinga, who faced off against Ruto in the August 9, 2022 presidential election, have vowed to oppose the proposals in parliament.
Omtatah, who filed the suit under a certificate of urgency, wants the High Court in Nairobi to block the National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula from transmitting the bill to the President for assent should parliament approve it.
This comes after Members of Parliament allied to Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza (Kenya First) coalition vowed to pass the bill amid widespread opposition.
Omtatah argues that President Ruto has been shoving the new taxes down Kenyans’ throats without consulting the relevant stakeholders such as parliament and the KRA. The senator also argues that the proposed taxes are punitive and unjustifiable.
The finance bill will be debated upon by MPs later June before the new financial year begins on July 1.
The bill also seeks to introduce export and investment promotion levy on specified imports, increase turnover tax from 1 per cent to 3 per cent, introduce 15 per cent withholding tax on income earned by digital content creators, and exempt exported services from VAT.
While justifying the new taxes, President Ruto said recently that he needed to reduce Kenya’s public debt and make the country able to finance its own budget.
His Kenya Kwanza coalition enjoys a strong majority in both the National Assembly and the Senate, where it is widely predicted that the controversial bill will sail through.
Ruto said in mid-May that Kenya’s public debt stood at Ksh8.8 trillion ($63 billion).
Kenyans have accused him of reneging on many of his presidential campaign promises, including reducing the cost of living and making credit more available to small and medium enterprises.
