Man wants House ordered to consider finance bill

A man has filed a petition seeking to compel the Speaker of the National Assembly to call for a sitting of the House to conclude the legislative process on the 2024 Finance Bill.

The petitioner, Kennedy Odor Wanyanga, also wants an interpretation of the implication of President William Ruto’s recommendation to MPs to “delete” all clauses in the bill.

Wanyanga argues that the Constitution provides for the mechanisms for amending legislative provisions, and that Parliament cannot amend any clause through its Standing Orders or alter any such constitutional timelines.

“The actions by the President have occasioned a peculiar scenario not contemplated under the law which is to the effect that Parliament is to delete a Bill already passed by the House whereas the law as designed does not anticipate the withdrawal of a Bill after the third reading,” the petitioner argues.

Through lawyer Arnold Oginga, the petitioner wants an interpretation of Article 115 of the Constitution on the status of the finance bill after the lapse of 14 dates from the date of the President’s memo (26th June) and the effect of the National Assembly being on recess.

Wanyanga also challenges the constitutionality of the National Assembly’s Standing Orders that permit the House to go on recess in the middle of the legislative timelines under Article 115.

He also wants a declaration that the finance bill will not come into force after the lapse of 14 days, and an order for the House to cancel its recess and act on the President’s referral in his memo.

He argues that the bill is in limbo and remains in a state of uncertainty, adding that the referral has not only delayed its enactment but also caused further uncertainty over its status.

“The reservations by the President herein are ambiguous following the recommendation for deletion of the Clauses and as a result the resultant product will be ambiguous and a nullity in law,” Wanyanga says.