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Kenya

Temporary Speaker declares Uhuru VAT proposal passed provoking uproar

She then went ahead to pronounce that those in support of the proposal had won the vote/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 20 – There was drama in Parliament Thursday afternoon following a bitter dispute between MPs who voted for and against President Uhuru Kenyatta’s proposal to cut Value Added Tax on fuel products to 8 per cent.

Those against the move insist they carried the day and have accused Temporary Duty Speaker Soipan Tuya of declaring wrong results after the vote.

As soon as the outcome was pronounced, MPs stood on their feet prompting the temporary speaker to order a division.

Tuya asked the Clerk of the National Assembly Michael Sialai to count the members but only 215 members were in House which doesn’t meet the threshold.

She then went ahead to pronounce that those in support of the proposal had won the vote.

It has taken the intervention of National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi to order a fresh vote as MPs chanted zero! in support of the zero taxation on petroleum products, as MPs like Ruaraka lawmaker TJ Kajwang insist the vote was rigged.

But after re-converting, Speaker Muturi found himself in a tight spot after he upheld the ruling allowing taxation of fuel at the rate of 8 per cent based on a contentious vote by acclamation.

Pleas by lawmakers who voted against the motion fell on deaf ears as Muturi insisted on going by the official record of the House – the Hansard – in which Temporary Speaker Soipan Tuya ruled the vote against the legislators opposing the taxation of fuel.

Muturi insisted that House business continues amid jeers by members who disputed the outcome.

Ruaraka lawmaker TJ Kajwang was had led colleague members in rejecting President Kenyatta’s memorandum recommending the taxation of fuel at the rate of 8 per cent having rescinded on an earlier proposal of 16 per cent.

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