NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 5 – The budget reading that was scheduled for Thursday this week will proceed as planned after National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi gave the go-ahead.
In his communication to the house, Muturi emphasized the need for every allowance to be made to ensure the exercise proceeds smoothly despite the final estimates
and the 2022 Finance Bill having not been submitted to the Houses.
Muturi had earlier stated that he would be reluctant to give the go-ahead for Yatani to read the Sh3.31 trillion budget unless Parliament approves a Division of Revenue Bill, 2022 that shares revenue between counties and the national government.
He directed that the final estimates and Finance Bill will now be tabled after the
budget statement.
Muturi stated that it has become necessary to make the change in timelines because of the truncated Parliament calendar given the upcoming August 9 General Election which will see MPs adjourn indefinitely in June.
The High Court in 2020 ruled that the Division of Revenue Bill must be approved by
Parliament before the tabling of Budget Estimates and reading of budget speech.
A three-judge bench in a High Court petition number 277 and 232 of 2019 ruled
that future budget policy pronouncements unveiled in Parliament without the
inclusion of the division revenue bill will be unconstitutional.
The Division of Revenue Bill was approved by the Senate last week and is due to be
presented to the President for assent to law.
