•Speaker Muturi says House leadership seized of the matter, to advise CS Yatani accordingly.
•Duale raised concerns of imminent breach of public finance law in the event reading proceeds before revenue bill.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani’s plan to read the budget for the next financial year is in limbo following the uncertainty of when Parliament will conclude the passage of the Division of Revenue Bill, 2022.
The Bill is still pending in the Senate where members have reportedly proposed amendments on the share of the county and national government revenue.
Any amendments to the revenue bill have to be subjected to mediation between the National Assembly and the Senate – a process that can drag for days.
Garissa Town MP Aden Duale, a former Majority leader, raised the matter with the National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi on a point of order at the Wednesday afternoon sittings.
He said it was not proper for the Cabinet Secretary to communicate a date for budget reading before the three critical instruments are tabled.
Yatani on Monday announced that the budget estimates would be presented to the August House on April 7.
“The Cabinet Secretary cannot table budget estimates before the Division of Revenue Bill, 2022 and County Allocation of Revenue Bill, 2022 is passed,” Duale said.
“The budget estimates can be tabled, considered and approved in this House through a resolution of the Committee of Supplies. This is the only time the House can allow the Treasury CS to make policy pronouncements and revenue-raising measures in the form of a budget statement, with the permission of the Speaker,” he added.
The High Court in 2019 ruled that the Division of Revenue Bill must be approved and enacted by Parliament before the tabling of the budget.
“The Division of Revenue Bill is before the Senate – said to have made amendments to the equitable share- there is a likelihood that the DORB may head to the mediation,” Duale said, adding that the tabling of the budget may delay following the mediation process.
He also wants the bill to align the debt ceiling from the current Sh9 trillion cap, which the country is about to breach.
Treasury has invited public views on the proposed cap of public debt at 55 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
“All these need to happen before the Treasury CS delivers the budget statement. The Executive cannot decide for us before the three items are dealt with.”
Speaker Muturi said the House Business Committee has discussed the issue and resolved to notify the Cabinet Secretary of the position that the bill has to be approved first.
Muturi came to Yatani’s defence, saying he made the request when it was projected the Senate would have concluded the passage of the DORB.
“The Treasury CS had not determined the date. He wrote a request to be allowed to come and read the highlights on April 7.”
“At the time he wrote, the date requested appeared reasonable, given that the National Assembly had passed the DORB and referred the same to the Senate,” Muturi said.
“The fears have been raised before the House Business Committee. Before the bill is passed, anything that happens will be in violation of High Court ruling,” the speaker added.
He said that House Business Team resolved that, “Without seeing what would become of the Division of Revenue Bill, we agreed that the CS be notified accordingly.”
Muturi said it was up to the Treasury to see how they can approach the Senate to expedite the bill, being one with the “vagaries of being subject to mediation.”
“What becomes of the DORB is the most crucial…we don’t want to violate the High Court ruling. We cannot engage in that process before we process the Division of Revenue Bill, 2022,” he said.