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Vihiga senator Godfrey Osotsi has criticized Members of Parliament (MPs) over the approval of voting of the Finance Bill 2023.

Speaking during an interview with a local TV station, the senator particularly called out Gatanga MP Edward Muriu and his Kandara counterpart Chege Njuguna for urging electorates not to pay taxes when they voted in favour of the bill.

Osostsi underscored that the action by the two legislators is proof that most MPs were pushed into voting for the bill.

He explained that it was unrealistic that the bill underwent public participation and was rejected but the MPs who represent the people still voted in favour of the controversial bill.

“Two MPs from Gatanga and Kandara were telling people not to pay taxes, on the farm produce, the same people are the ones who passed the Finance Bill when everyone was crying about Finance Bill. The bill went through public participation and the people said no, the same ones went and started telling people not to pay taxes what has changed? That is the scenario that those MPs did not vote for this bill because they supported it, they voted it because they were whipped to support it,” he said.

The senator subsequently called out senators who abandon their oversight role and tweak narratives to suit and serve their masters.

He claimed that a section of senators often change the amount allocated for development to appeal to their masters at the expense of electorates who vote them in to serve them.

“Our role as senators is to ensure that we approve money to counties then do oversight over those funds, but where we have a scenario where you have a committee giving a report saying that we want to give counties 704 billion, then when you come on the floor you reject your own report sayings its less money, you are being whipped to give the county less money,” he added