Chief Justice Koome appoints 3 judges to hear Finance Act cases

Chief Justice Martha Koome. [Silas Otieno, Standard]

Chief Justice Martha Koome has empanelled a three-judge bench to hear cases filed to challenge the Finance Act, 2023.

Justice Koome Tuesday, July 18 appointed High Court Judges David Majanja, Christine Meoli, and Lawrence Mugambi to hear the 12 cases filed against the tax law.

This comes as a lawyer Shadrack Sharu, filed a separate case challenging the Appropriation Act, of 2023.

Sharu questions Kenya's debt, arguing that the amount indicated by the Kenya Kwanza could not be the real figure of the money owed to both internal and foreign creditors.

He has sued the Controller of Budget, the National Treasury, the Attorney General, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u and the National Assembly.

Loans taken

He argues that the government ought to have told Kenyans how much they need to shoulder and have the same paid this year.

According to Sharu, the loans taken by the government are not accounted for and end up in government officials' pockets.

"The petitioners challenge the constitutionality of Appropriation Act 2023 to the extent that it does not clearly state the country's debt balance and appropriate funds for its settlement within the financial year," argues Sharu.

He has also cited businessman Jimmy Wanjigi as an interested party. According to him, the debt is said to be around Sh9.7 trillion. This, he says, is around 70 per cent of Kenya's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

"As a result, Kenya's debt carrying capacity has not only weakened resulting in the country getting a downgrading from strong to medium performance in 2020," he argues, adding that President William Ruto's advisor David Ndii has admitted that the debt is causing liquidity problems.

Sharu wants his case to be joined to another one filed by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah in 2015 over the debt incurred by the government.

Meanwhile, Okiya wants the court to allow him to cross-examine National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula over his reply in the Finance Act case.

Involve counties

Okiya states that the reply casts doubt on the truthfulness of the speaker on whether there was consensus with his Senate counterpart, Amason Kingi on whether the new law does not involve counties.

Separately, pharmaceutical companies have also moved to court, challenging the 25 per cent tax introduced on imported items that were previously exempt from taxes.

The 14 companies led by Biopharm Ltd argue that clauses 43 A and Six of the Act were introduced on the floor of the House without public participation. According to them, the new law will in the end affect pharmaceutical products.

"The import of the backdoor introduction of the aforesaid substantial impugned amendment was that the same as never subjected to public participation," the case filed by Rachier and Amollo Advocates read in part.

Senator Okiya's case is aggrieved that the National Assembly never sought concurrence from the Senate while preparing the bill.

He argues in his case that Senate speaker Amason Kingi on June 15, 2023, protested to his National Assembly counterpart Moses Wetang'ula for failing to submit the Finance Bill to the Upper House for consideration and debate.

According to Okiya, the now Finance law touches on county government and was a money bill, therefore, it required consensus from Senators before it was debated and passed by the lower house.