Senators ask Uhuru not to sign Appropriation Bill 2017

A file photo of President Uhuru Kenyatta signing a bill at State House.
A file photo of President Uhuru Kenyatta signing a bill at State House.

Senators have asked President Uhuru Kenyatta not to sign Appropriations Bill, 2017 that was passed on Thursday afternoon in the National Assembly.

They said the move was unprocedural as the mediation committee - composed of Senators and MPs - was yet to concluded deliberating on the disputed Division of Revenue Bill.

The committee was still mediating on the standoff on the amount of money that counties should be allocated the 2017/2018 financial year.

The Senate also withdrew its members in the committee to deny it the quorum needed to make the final decision.

Temporary speaker Wilfred Machage said the Senate will move to court to obtain a court injunction.

He said the law is clear that the Senate has a role in budget making for the counties.

Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki and his Minority counterpart Moses Wetang'ula also condemned its passage in Parliament.

"It will be an unconstitutional budget putting the country into crisis. As far as this House is concern, there is no Division of Revenue Bill, there cannot be Appropriations Bill," Kindiki said.

Wetang'ula asked the President to return the Bill to Parliament, saying there is need to empower Senate.

"It is unprocedural for the lower House to table and pass the Appropriation Bill. The President should return the Bill and point out that the mediation report was still pending," he said.

"That way we will hail the President for respecting constitutionalism," he added.

The Senators protested after mediation committee members Billow Kerrow (Mandera) and Mutula Kilonzo Jr (Makueni) alerted the House that MPs were planning to introduce a proposal to amend the contested Division of Revenue.

These would undo changes the Senate had made.

"The National Assembly has completely ignored the Senate and the Division or Revenue Bill, the interests of 47 county governments have been thrown out of the window," Kerrow said.

Kilonzo Jr said the move meant that counties will be plunged into financial crisis as the earliest they can make their budgets is after the August general elections.

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