Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has sued speakers Moses Wetangula of the National Assembly and Amason Kingi of the Senate over allegations of exclusion of the senate in the budget making process.
Omtatah accused National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula and Senate speaker Amason Kingi of not involving the senate in the budget making process of the 2024 financial bill on 24th, June,2024. He, therefore, asked the High Court to quash the Appropriations Bill 0f 2024.
PHOTO/Senate
Omtatah Sues Wetangula &Kingi
In response to the petition, High court judge Lawrence Mugambi directed that the case be heard on priority basis.
In addition, Justice Mugambi ordered the respondents to file their responses within three days from Friday, June 28.
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“Responses will be filed and served within three days and if need be, the Applicant/Petitioner may file a rejoinder within 3 days from the date of receipt of responses. The case will be mentioned on 11/07/2024 for further direction,” read part of the documents.
The development came a day after President William Ruto signed the Appropriations Bill into law on Friday, June 28 at State House Nairobi. Coming in the wake of the dropped Finance Bill 2024, the President directed Treasury to immediately prepare a supplementary budget to reduce government expenditure by Ksh346 billion.
According to Ruto, the passed budget was passed in anticipation that the Finance Bill would be passed and help raise Ksh346 billion.
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With the doors seemingly closed on the controversial Bill, the President has resorted to austerity measures to help cater for the resulting budget gap.
Additionally, the President referred the County Appropriations Bill back to Parliament requiring MPs to trim the initial amount allocated to the devolved units.
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PHOTO/ Amason Kingi
