William Ruto withdraws Finance Bill. News. President William Ruto has responded to the overwhelming public opposition by announcing he will not sign the Finance Bill 2024 into law. “The people have spoken,” Ruto stated.
“Listening keenly to the people of Kenya who have said loudly that they want nothing to do with this Finance Bill 2024, I concede and therefore I will not sign the 2024 Finance Bill, and it shall subsequently be withdrawn,” he declared.
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Once a bill is before Parliament, it cannot simply lapse; it must be formally withdrawn. Therefore, the President is expected to return the bill to Parliament with a memorandum explaining his refusal to sign it. Following this, he will ask Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wa to officially withdraw the bill.
In his address, President Ruto emphasized his administration’s efforts to reduce the cost of essential commodities. “We have worked hard and consistently so that the price of essential commodities like ‘unga’ has dropped from Sh240 to Sh100. We reduced the cost of fertilizer from Sh7,500 to Sh2,500. The Shilling has also strengthened against the Dollar,” he noted.
Ruto highlighted Kenya’s progress in managing its debt. “For every Sh100 the government collects in taxes, Sh61 goes into paying off the country’s debt. We have paid Kenya’s Eurobond debt that was borrowed in 2014 of 2 billion dollars that has been hanging around our neck. We paid the last installment of $500 million last week,” Ruto explained.
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He concluded by asserting that Kenya is on the path to reducing its debt burden significantly. “Given the sustained commitment to rid itself of the debt burden, the country’s debt obligation is today much less and more sustainable,” he said.