Junet Mohamed Cautions Kenyans against Being Misled over Finance Bill 2025
- The Finance Bill 2025 was officially tabled in the National Assembly on Wednesday afternoon, April 30
- Seeming to appreciate the reactions the bill might trigger, Suna East MP Junet Mohamed asked Kenyans to be wary of misinformation
- He seemed to reference the political events in June last year, which were sparked by the Finance Bill 2024, in which a raft of taxes had been proposed
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Suna East MP Junet Mohamed has asked Kenyans not to fall prey to misinformation as the National Assembly warms up to the Finance Bill 2025.
Source: Twitter
The bill was officially tabled in parliament on Wednesday afternoon, April 30, and is now with the Finance and National Planning Committee.
Junet, who is also the leader of the minority in the lower legislative house, observed that the public would be misled over the contents of the bill, asking them to be keen.
The lawmaker referenced the rumours earlier peddled about another tax-filled finance bill.
He called on the public to scrutinise the actual bill and understand its contents before expressing their approval or dissent.
Junet, while pointing out that taxation might be the focal point, asked the public to interact with the bill on their own, as it is a public document, and not to allow to be swayed by varying interpretations that might be wrong after all.
"The real finance bill has now arrived in Parliament. You remember the last two months; there has been a finance bill that has been circulating and people discussing in public forums, claiming that there is this taxation, there is that taxation. We want to urge Kenyans from the floor of this house that the real finance bill is with us now. There should be no misinformation, disinformation, or misrepresentation and misinformation of the public. The finance bill should be interpreted in accordance with what is written. We have only one finance bill in the house," he said.
The MP seemed to finger the media, which he suggested would misreport the bill to spark misplaced reactions from Kenyans.
"If you want to import your own things into the finance bill, please don't mislead Kenyans. And the people I am talking to are exactly facing my eyes. I don't want to mention names. They are looking at me in the eye. We know each other, and these are some of them. Please, let us tell the public exactly what is in the finance bill. If there are no more taxes, there are no more taxes. Let us not import things into the finance bill that do not exist.
What next after tabling of Finance Bill 2025?
The Finance Comittee will engage Kenyans and relevant stakeholders on the bill before it is voted for by the MPs.
The voting will succeed the presentation of the 2025/26 budget estimates before the president signs the bill, is passed by parliament, into the new finance law bearing the taxation measures that will fund the budget.
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Junet seemed to appreciate the reaction the bill might trigger in reference to last year's mass action protests that were mobilised around the bill.
The Finance Bill 2024 bore a raft of tax propositions that the public did not approve of.
Whilst the public disapproved of the bill, the National Assembly went ahead to pass it, and even presented it to President William Ruto for assent.
The move did not sit well with Kenyans, who took to the streets across the country to get back at the legislature and the national executive.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
