Member of Parliament for Kikuyu Constituency and Leader of the Majority Party in the National Assembly – 13th Parliament, Kimani Ichung’wah, has defended himself and the 204 members who voted for the Finance Bill 2024 to proceed to the second reading.
Ichung’wah insisted that the Finance Bill is a key component for the government to raise funds to conduct its business.
Ichung’wah on Bill
Speaking in Eldama Ravine on Friday, June 21, he emphasized that failing to pass the bill would mean there would be no money to build roads, fund medical services, or hire Junior Secondary School teachers.
“I voted yes because this Finance Bill is a proposal that helps the government collect funds to carry out its work.
Not passing the Finance Bill means saying that the government of Kenya should fail and stop working. We won’t build roads, you won’t find doctors in hospitals, you won’t get medicine,” he stated.
He also highlighted that the Bill, through the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), allocates Ksh.8 billion to help cover healthcare costs for the poor and Ksh2 billion for free medication for chronic diseases. Additionally, Ksh.8 billion has been set aside for hiring Junior Secondary School teachers.
Members of Parliament voted to have the Finance Bill 2024 proceed to the next stage of the Second Reading with 204 MPs voting in favor and 115 voting against.
Finance Bill next stage
The Bill will now proceed to the next stage, where the National Assembly will convene as the Committee of the Whole House. They will go through each clause and vote on any amendments proposed by the Finance and Budgetary Committee or other members.
After this, the members will vote to either accept or reject the amendments that have been adopted or dropped.
Tentatively, this voting process will take place next week. During the third reading, the chairperson for the Finance and Budget Committee, Kimani Kuria, will move for the bill to be read a third time.
