June 18, 2024: Top news events to look out for today

Here is what you need to know to get up to speed with today’s happenings.

Finance Bill heat

The controversial 2024 Finance Bill is expected to retake the centre stage ahead of its introduction to the House for voting.

The bill carries a number of contentious issues that include a motor vehicle tax, expected to be at a rate of 2.5 per cent of the value of the motor vehicle. The proposed tax provided that the tax payable shall not be less than Ksh5,000 but shall not exceed Ksh100,000.

Imposition of excise duty of 25 per cent on crude palm oil and finished cooking oil is also in the bill.

Opponents of the bill want the removal of bread from taxable items. Bread is currently on a list of zero-rated items that include flour, milk and sanitary products.

However, the House committee reviewing the bill is expected to drop the contentious parts before briefing the president and later introducing it to the floor of the house for debate.

UDA wrangles 

Ahead of the planned United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party meeting, wrangles within the outfit are expected to dominate headlines.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who has been leading a different camp and lawmakers opposed to him are expected to meet eye-to-eye and before then, their moves will attract considerable limelight.

The National Assembly Chief Whip Sylvanus Osoro warned that they are ready to face the second in command and tell him to stop being tribal.

“We also expect him (President William Ruto) to tell his deputy to stop being tribal and focus on his national agenda. We really expect that because if he doesn’t then the members will tell him, the deputy party leader, that you are a bit too much of being tribal.

“It is about time he realigns himself with our vision of one Kenya, one country. So it is wrong to undermine a region based on how they vote especially when it comes from the deputy president who is the second in command.

“The deputy president is a politician and understands when politicians are speaking and he is gone a stray,” the South Mugirango MP said.

Gachagua has been at loggerheads with members of his own party, especially following his intensified campaign to unite Mount Kenya via the one-man, one-shilling, one-vote agenda.

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