There were light moments at the High Court in Nairobi when a judge declined a gift from a lawyer after making a ruling on a case before him.
Justice David Majanja declined to accept a gift from lawyer Fred Ogola after the ruling on the Finance Act.
“As the ruling was going on, I was wondering whether I would be able to give you this gift, but I am very happy you said something Solomonic…,” said the lawyer.
Majanja however said they cannot accept gifts from litigants or members of the public.
“Of course, we cannot take gifts from litigants and members of the public but you are free to donate them to the library for use by every mwananchi in Kenya," he said.
Ogola said he had wished it was possible to gift the judges after they declared the Housing Levy contained in the Finance Act 2023 unconstitutional.
The court said that the levy was unconstitutional and vague and that there was no law allowing the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to collect it.
The court also found that the levy was discriminatory since it targeted only employed Kenyans and the government did not demonstrate why it excluded other categories of income earners.
It was delivered by a three-judge bench comprising Majanja, Christine Meoli and Lawrence Mugambi on Tuesday who heard various petitions challenging the Finance Act 2023.
The National Assembly passed the Finance Act 2023 on June 22, 2023, and later assented by President William Ruto on June 26.
Government lawyers requested 45-day stay orders to make necessary amendments to the Housing Levy through the National Assembly to make it constitutional.
The Act, which was supposed to come into force on July 1, was challenged through multiple petitions.
On June 30, Justice Mugure Thande of the High Court issued orders stopping its implementation until the case was heard and determined.
The government appealed this decision and on July 29, it got a reprieve after the Court of Appeal lifted the orders.
The case was heard on September 13.
The petitioners, led by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah, argued that the Finance Bill 2023 contained amendments to several laws that had nothing to do with raising revenue and laws that affected the work of the Senate to protect the interests of counties and their governments.