Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has moved to the Supreme court to challenge the court of appeal ruling which lifted the order that suspended the Finance Act.
In a notice of appeal filed in court, Omtatah and two others say they are dissatisfied with the ruling of the appellate court and they intend to appeal at the apex court.
“Take notice that Okiya Omtatah, Eliud Matindi, Benson Otieno and Blair Oigoro being dissatisfied with the entire ruling of the Court of Appeal given at Nairobi on July 28 2023, intend to appeal to the Supreme Court against the whole decision,” the notice reads.
The appeal judges Mohammed Warsame, Hellen Omondi and Kathurima M’inoti ruled that the appeal by Ndung’u was arguable and they had been persuaded to lift the order of the high court.
It was their finding that the Finance Act and the Appropriation Act are interdependent further saying that while the Finance aspect provides for generation of funds, the appropriation provides for expenditure thus there can be no expenditure without a mode of generation of the funds.
They also noted that the finance act has a lifespan of 90 days beyond which the next budgetary cycle is set in motion.
The court said that it was certain from the evidence produced by the state that the revenue was to be collected with the operationalization of the Act.
The AG had argued that they estimated to generate over Sh 211 billion with an average rate of Sh 500 million which they were losing by the Act being suspended.
The court also ruled that tax is a continuous and annual mechanism and the members of the public can get a rebate for overpaid taxes and levies when making subsequent tax payments.
In the case at the high court, Omtatah have challenged the Finance Act 2023 saying it was not passed through senate as is required by law.
However, Senate Speaker Amason Kingi argues that the bill did not pass through senate since it did not concern counties.
