Wednesday, June 21, 2023 – President William Ruto has broken his silence on compromising MPs to pass his contentious Finance Bill 2023.
Speaking during the launch of the Nairobi County School Feeding Programme at Roysambu Primary School, Nairobi, Ruto dispelled claims of bribing MPs with Ksh1 million each to support the Finance Bill 2023.
He noted that the rumours were propagated by Raila Odinga’s Azimio, who he accused of planning to disrupt the government’s agenda.
According to Ruto, there was no need to incentivise legislators to support the proposed tax policies as they were willing to aid the government in increasing revenue collection.
“There are rumours that MPs were paid Ksh1 million to support the Finance Bill. These are lies. An intelligent person doesn’t need to be bribed to do the right thing. So, I want to ask those propagating lies that we don’t want any sideshows. We want to move on as a country,” Ruto confirmed.
The President maintained that it was insincere for leaders to oppose the Finance Bill, which was the gateway to providing job opportunities and 200,000 houses annually.
He reiterated that the Bill sought to alleviate key societal issues, including unemployment and promoting local businesses.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris, who vouched for the bill, despite being a member of Raila’s Azimio and hailed the Kenya Kwanza administration for offering a solution for the country to become self-reliant.
“Kenyans know that life will be difficult but after suffering for a short while, our country will move forward. We must be self-reliant; we must pay our taxes and build Kenya. That’s why I’m commending the government for looking for money and working to get us out of debt,” she stated.
During the Second Reading, 176 MPs voted in favour and 81 voted against it. In the Third Reading, MPs will vote on proposed amendments before the Bill is signed into law.
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