Behind the scenes ploy that pushed MPs to approve new levies

Soon after MPs failed in their attempts to reject President Uhuru Kenyatta’s reservations on the Finance Bill, 2018, Turkana South MP James Lomenen made remarks that provides a peek into the intricacies of what transpired behind the scenes leading to the approval of a law that has caused public indignation.

Speaking at a press conference after the vote, Mr Lomenen singled out the leadership of the National Assembly, blaming it for the failed vote and having conspired with the Executive to put in place policies that subjugate the public.

“The people who have endorsed this are (Justin) Muturi, (Aden) Duale, (John) Mbadi and Junet Mohammed, and all the chairpersons of the committee,” the MP said, accusing the leaders of having forced through the House the enactment of the Bill.

The highlight was eight percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on petroleum products and a range of other levies.

“It is these people who have buried Kenyans with this punitive tax,” he said, when he joined other MPs in the post-vote press conference at Parliament Buildings.

INTIMIDATION

He went on to claim that money may have changed hands besides intimidation.

It is likely that Mr Lomenen spoke in anger, especially because the “No” MPs felt slighted after they failed to overturn the President’s memorandum in a chaotic session.

But the observations open a window to the high-stakes games involved in passing some laws pushed by the Executive.

There had been talk of State House “capture” of Parliament in the lead-up to the vote as the ruling Jubilee and sections of the opposition Nasa pushed for President Kenyatta to have his way.

Multiple interviews with legislators brought out allegations of bribery and intimidation after it became clear legislators had bridged the political divide and were serious in shooting it down.

There are, however, those who believe many MPs were simply playing to the gallery in opposing the memorandum so as to be seen as sympathetic to the public.

Nonetheless, suspicions are rife that, apart from the top House leadership, committee chairs were used to ensure opposition to the memorandum was diminished.

CANVASS

Instructively, all the chairpersons of the committee were picked by State House immediately after the last General Election, which has also eroded the independence of the House.

The state, through compliant MPs, also infiltrated a WhatsApp platform which MPs had formed to mobilise opposition to the VAT tax on fuel and was able to single out the most acerbic critics whose names were later forwarded to the President.

Those who were ousted were either approached through intermediaries or personal calls from State House and top party leaders.

When he was in Parliament, an MP recounted to the Sunday Nation, Jubilee Secretary-General Raphael Tuju was particularly concerned about Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo (ODM), who had been vocal in his opposition on social media.

Having been dispatched to parliament and detailed by State House to whip MPs into supporting the President, Mr Tuju was overheard asking an ODM MP whether “Otiende was with us”.

A Jubilee MP who did not want to be named, confirmed he had been called by State House and asked to support the memo.

“He asked me to attend the sitting and vote with those who were supporting the memorandum or mobilise others to stay away from the House so as to deny the House the quorum (two-thirds) to interfere with his recommendations,” the MP said.

MUTURI

The manner in which the sitting was conducted by Speaker Justin Muturi has attracted as much public indignation as the introduction of VAT on fuel, which reignites fears that the House may be in the grip of the Executive.

In the public eye, there is everything wrong with Mr Muturi’s declaration that those in support of the President’s memo prevailed even when the acclamations indicated otherwise.

Mr Muturi was also selective in choosing members who contributed to the debate on the matters before the House on that day.

During the debate on the Supplementary Financial Estimates, Mr Muturi shocked the legislators when he appeared to give Murang’a Woman Representative Sabina Chege a chance to contribute, only that, until then, she had not been in the House.

It was the Rarieda MP who demanded an explanation on why the Speaker was keen on restricting debate on the crucial matters before the House to the chairpersons of the departmental committees.

“All chairpersons of the departmental committee are members of the Budget and Appropriations committee.

"They had a chance to give their views when the Estimates were under consideration by the committee. It is important that you should give those who were not part of the committee an opportunity to speak on this estimates,” Mr Amollo protested.

SOIPAN TUYA

The Speaker would throw the House into deeper controversy when he returned to save Narok Woman Representative Soipan Tuya from torment and the House from degenerating into chaos.

Interestingly, Ms Tuya committed these errors even though among the clerks on the table that day was Mr Michael Sialai.

Mr Sialai is not just the Clerk of the National Assembly, he is also a leading expert in Parliament on legislation and procedures, a sign that Ms Tuya’s errors could have been deliberate.

Ms Tuya was on the chair during the consideration of the memorandum. But through apparently well-calculated missteps, she committed one blunder after the other, eroding the integrity of the House as the proceedings were aired live on television.

When Mr Muturi returned, the House was in paralysis. MPs were bitterly and loudly arguing with Ms Tuya over the outcome of the vote.

The MPs were angry because they believed they had mustered the numbers and shot down the President’s recommendations, only for Ms Tuya to hand the victory to the side that supported the President.

VOTING

From there it was a push and pull amid shouts and boos. The speaker returned and announced the electronic voting board had registered that 352 members were in the House during the voting.

He ruled the figure beyond the total number of MPs in the National Assembly. The National Assembly has 349 elected MPs plus the speaker, making it 350.

He also invoked section 72 of the House Rules and nullified the outcome of the poll as announced by Ms Tuya and ordered for another vote.

But he also adjourned the House for 15 minutes to allow the technical team to establish the problem with the electronic board that led to a display of more members than the constitutionally provided number.

A top Jubilee MP told the Sunday Nation that the House leadership may have received high-voltage calls during the break to stop a repeat vote.

It was then that the Speaker turned to the Hansard for escape. Hansard reporters were mobilised and asked to quickly reproduce events as they unfolded on the voting of the particular section on VAT on fuel.

HANSARD

What was to be 15 minutes break turned out to be a 50-minute break as Hansard reporters struggled to compile copy for the Speaker.

He returned but there was to be no repeat vote. “Hansard is the official copy of the parliamentary proceedings. It is the only thing I can rely on and if you are not happy I am sorry you will have to go to court,” he told the shouting MPs.

He then clarified the Hansard records showed that 215 members had been in the house during the debate and upheld the outcome of the poll, much to the chagrin of booing MPs.

Added to this was the role of Majority leader Aden Duale, who in the thick of the voting, and in total assault to the House rules, shepherded MPs out of the chamber in what was a deliberate scheme to deny the House the requisite numbers to conduct the business.

Even when Ruaraka MP TJ Kajwang’ challenged the Speaker to rule whether it is within the rules for members to leave chamber when voting is going on and what that means to the outcome of the vote, the Speaker demurred.

“The question on whether there was external interference is moot. It was obvious and you just need to open your eyes wide and you will see it all,” Saboti MP Caleb Amisi said yesterday.

CAPTURE

Nominated MP Godfrey Osotsi also confirmed external interference but placed the blame on Mr Muturi’s doorstep who, he said, had refused to protect the integrity of parliament, choosing instead to dance to the tune of the executive.

“The Thursday events are a culmination of built-up anger among MPs arising from protracted interference by State House,” Mr Osotsi said, noting that chairpersons of the committee have gone to bed with State House and Cabinet secretaries because they were picked by the President.

“It is the speaker who should jealously protect the independence of parliament and integrity of members. If Mr Muturi did this, Thursday’s events wouldn’t have happened,” Mr Osotsi said.

Laikipia Woman Representative Catherine Waruguru has accused Mr Duale and Mr Muturi of intimidating members to support the executive on the memo while Dagoretti North MP Simba Arati said that Mr Muturi had threatened him.