The Parliamentary Committee on Finance has made some amendments to the controversial Finance Bill of 2023.
The committee reached the decision after going through tens of petitions from members of the public on several clauses that were deemed to be oppressive.
Though the committee that is led by Molo MP Kuria Kimani did not identify the particular clauses, it came to a consensus on the bill ahead of Tuesday when it will be tabled in the House.
In the last couple of weeks, the issue of the three per cent housing levy and 16 per cent VAT on petroleum products have dominated talks with the opposition calling for the bill to be withdrawn.
But addressing the press in Naivasha on Sunday, Kuria exuded confidence that the bill would be accepted by Parliament come Tuesday when it would be tabled.
The Molo MP said that they had looked into all the recommendations handed over to them and included them in the 137-page document.
“The committee has come to an agreement on all the clauses and made some amendments based on the petitions we got from members of the public,” he said.
He was, however, remained coy on the issue of the housing levy and the VAT on fuel products noting that this would be made public once the document was tabled in the house.
He revisited the issue of borrowing noting that currently the country was financially crippled due to the burden of debts that was affecting development projects.
He said that the committee had made recommendations that would see borrowing reduced so that the country would sustain itself.
“We are currently paying a debt of Sh958 billion and for every Sh10, Sh6.7 goes towards servicing our debts and it's time that this was changed,” he said.
He lashed out at those who were demonising the whole report based on two issues adding that the bill had many positives but the debate had taken a political angle.
Kuria pointed to the waiver on agriculture inputs, vaccines and electric cars and motorbikes as some of the incentives in the bill.
“Soon Kenya will become the leading producer of vaccines due to the incentives in this bill mainly to the manufacturers,” he said.
He called for reasoning from his colleagues in parliament adding that the MPs had the powers to debate and amend the bill once in Parliament.
“Every clause in this bill has its implication in the country’s economy and we cannot throw it out wholly just because of two controversial sections,” he said.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)
