Revealed! How Ruto manipulated Azimio MPs to back finance bill
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Budget cuts to NGCDF are some of the tactics Ruto used to manipulate Azimio MPs to back the controversial finance bill, 2023
Budget cuts to NGCDF are some of the tactics Ruto used to manipulate Azimio MPs to back the controversial finance bill, 2023.
Details on the strategies used by the administration to pressure MPs into passing the contentious Finance Bill have now come to light.
After a meeting organized and presided over by Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, who outlined the consequences of rejecting the bill, Azimio legislators agreed to approve some of the clauses, according to sources informed of the last-minute effort to calm the irate opposition team.
The MPs were informed at the meeting, which was attended by the leaders of both political parties, that the Executive had failed to table the Appropriations bill, which determines how money will be distributed among the various government departments, because of threats to veto it.
The bill, on normal occasions is supposed to be tabled in the House before the Finance Bill but in this case it was tabled after the Finance Bill was passed.
“The Executive wanted to see whether the MPs would pass the bill or not and that is why they delayed tabling that Appropriations Bill,” said an MP who attended the meeting but did not want to be named.
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MPs who attended the meeting said they were informed that failure to pass the bill would lead to major cuts of various vote heads, which affect them directly.
Among the departments that would have suffered include Parliament, which has been allocated Sh41 billion, the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NGCDF) and the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF).
The slash on Parliament’s allocation, the MPs were told, would have led to reduction in members’ travel allowances, which normally takes a huge chunk of the budget.
But the leadership of the opposition, comprising Leader of Minority Opiyo Wandayi, Minority Whip Junet Mohammed and nominated MP John Mbadi although agreed to support certain clauses of the bill, but made it clear they would oppose the creation of the Housing Levy and the increment of 16 per cent fuel levy from the current eight per cent.
The Opposition MPs put up a flurry of points of order, numerous calls for division to delay debate and passage of the clauses.
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