Finance Act 2023 Temporarily Suspended by High Court
The High Court has temporarily suspended the implementation of the Finance Act of 2023 for one week.
This is in response to a petition filed by Senator Okiya Omtatah of Busia challenging the Finance Act of 2023 and requesting the deletion of certain sections.
Lady Justice Mugure Thande ruled in favor of Mr. Omtatah, preventing the law from going into effect tomorrow, July 1, 2023, pending the outcome of his lawsuit.
Justice Thande ruled, “I am satisfied that the Application meets the criteria for conservatory orders, and I grant prayers 2 and 3 of the Application until 5.7.23 when the matter is set to be mentioned for directions.”
Omtatah argues in his amended petition that the Finance Bill contains amendments to a number of laws that have nothing to do with raising revenue and that affect the Senate’s ability to protect the interests of counties and governments.
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“It is unreasonable to require employees to contribute a sum of money based on the applicable blanket deductible percentage without taking into account their existing contractual obligations on their salaries,” states Omtatah.
In addition, he argues that it is a mandatory condition precedent that, prior to introducing a bill for consideration in the originating chamber, the Speaker of one House of Parliament must seek the concurrence of the Speaker of the other House.
“In direct violation of the mandatory requirement that any Bill introduced in the National Assembly that contains provisions pertaining to county governments must also be introduced to the Senate for concurrence, the Finance Bill 2023 was not submitted to the Senate for concurrence,” he states.
Now, he wants the court to strike down some sections of the Original Finance Act 2023 that were passed without Senate input. He also claims that the Speaker of the National Assembly violated Article 110(3) of the Constitution by introducing the Finance Bill 2023 in the National Assembly without first determining with the Speaker of the Senate whether the bill concerned county government.
Finance Act 2023 Temporarily Suspended by High Court
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