This is after Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairman Mutava Musyimi requested the Speaker to grant him time to build consensus on the controversial motion.
“Mr Speaker, I wish to withdraw the motion appearing as Order No. 14 on the Supplementary Order Paper. Mr Speaker, we need comprehensive consultations to be made before engaging further in this matter,” he said amid chants of disapproval from opposition MPs in the House.
Attempts by MPs John Mbadi, Ababu Namwamba, and Phillip Wandayi to question Mutava’s motive were blocked by House Speaker Justin Muturi who ruled that Mutava was perfectly in order to withdraw the motion from the floor of the House because he is the one who has sponsored it.
The Budget and Appropriations and the Finance, Trade and Planning committees backed the National Treasury Secretary’s decision to pay two firms which had moved to court in Switzerland and the United Kingdom and secured judgment compelling the Government of Kenya to pay up.
The two companies were contracted to supply broadband network and bandwidth network projects to the Postal Corporation of Kenya between 1997 and 2002.
The postponement came hour after Jubilee and CORD lawmakers gave strong indication they would shoot down the motion to pay the firms.
Jubilee MPs walked out on National Treasury CS Henry Rotich as CORD Members of the National Assembly also resolved to reject the report on the Anglo-Leasing payments.
The opposition MPs spoke after holding a parliamentary group meeting chaired by Senate Minority Leader Moses Wetangula.