National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula has announced that President William Ruto’s rejection of the Finance Bill, 2024, will be addressed once MPs resume sittings from their three-week recess this week.
On June 26, Ruto declared he would not assent to the contentious Bill following deadly protests and sent it back to Parliament with a memorandum to withdraw all clauses.
“Parliament resumes sittings after its three-week recess and as you are aware, the President declined to assent to the Finance Bill 2024 and sent it back to Parliament with a memorandum that he had rejected all the Bill’s clauses,” Wetangula said on Monday.
Wetangula also dismissed reports claiming the Bill would become operational within two weeks of its rejection, clarifying that the two-week period does not apply during the MPs’ recess.
“Under our standing orders, when the President sends a memorandum of that nature, any member who wants to overturn it must garner two-thirds of the members of the House, which is about 233.”
“The Bill is in limbo awaiting the next vote on it in the House,” he said.
National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula also revealed that items worth Sh94 million were destroyed during the recent Gen Z protests. He assured taxpayers that they will not bear any costs, as the insurance company will cover the replacement of items and repair of damaged structures.
At the same time, the Speaker noted the establishment of the selection panel for the appointment of new Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners will be done in 14 days.
Wetangula also assured that the media will not face any restrictions on live coverage at Parliament.
This is after a section of Parliamentary journalists claimed they were banned from accessing the main Parliament Buildings.
Wetang’ula said the media was instead allocated a space across the Parliament Buildings.
“I have been seeing in the media, allegations that any restriction on the media coming to Parliament. Nothing is far from the truth and the testimony is that you are being here before me and that you have come to Parliament to do your work,” he said.
He, however, said that they will continue to facilitate live coverage and there will be access to Parliament materials to the media.