Members of Parliament have asked the High Court not to entertain a petition filed by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah that seeks to block them from considering the Finance Bill 2024.
Through advocate Sandra Nganyi, the National Assembly told Justice Lawrence Mugambi that some of the issues being raised by Omtatah and Eliud Matindi were already determined in another matter filed in 2018, and are also the subject of an appeal pending at the Court of Appeal.
Nganyi whose sentiments were echoed by the Attorney General said the current petition by Omtatah and Matindi is premature as it's challenging a Bill that has not yet been passed and is still being processed by the National Assembly.
"The petition is incompetent and an abuse of court process to the extent that the petitioners are challenging a bill which is yet to be enacted. We will be asking the court to dismiss it," she said.
She urged the court to hear them first on the preliminary objections (P.O) before the court can consider hearing the application filed by Omtatah and Matindi.
In a brief rejoinder, Omtatah said the current case doesn't relate to the one pending at the Court of Appeal as alleged by Nganyi.
"We are not challenging the merit of the Finance Bill. We are only asking the court whether the bill can be introduced at this stage where we don't have the approved budget estimates," he said.
He argued that the issues before the court cannot be premature as they are already before the National Assembly.
Justice Mugambi after hearing from parties said the P.O filed by the National Assembly will be determined in three days. He will issue a ruling date on the same on June 19.
Omtatah had in 2018 challenged the implementation of the Finance Act. He sued the AG and the National Assembly over the act which was assented to by former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
He argued that the Finance Bill 2018 died the moment it was declared that those MPs opposed to the president's amendments to the Finance Bill 2018 had failed to raise the requisite numbers to override the president’s veto.
He argued that the Speaker of the National Assembly was wrong to present a dead bill to the president for assent because the Finance Bill 2018 died when it failed to garner two-thirds support of the members of the National Assembly.
This matter is currently pending at the Court of Appeal.
Omtatah and Matindi state that the Finance Bill, 2024, has been tabled prematurely because there is no approved fiscal framework for the Financial Year 2024-25, which it is supposed to implement.
"The approved fiscal framework will only come to life with the enactment, with public participation, of the Appropriation Act, 2024," Omtatah said.
He wants the court to issue an order suspending the consideration of the Bill by the National Assembly.
The Finance Act and the Appropriation Act are interdependent. The Finance Act provides for the generation of resources while the appropriation act provides for expenditure.
"Not setting up the appropriation act before presenting the Bill is against article 220 of the constitution," read their documents in part.
Article 220 states that “Budgets of the national and county governments shall contain— estimates of revenue and expenditure, differentiating between recurrent and development expenditure,”
