Supreme Court judges
The Supreme Court has dismissed Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah’s petition which was challenging the
implementation of the Finance Act 2023.
Okiya Omtatah and three other interested parties in the case moved to the Supreme Court after the
The appellate court lifted the suspension of the act which was issued by High Court Judge Justice Mugure
Thande.
The Court’s judgment implies that the Treasury will continue to collect the additional taxes,
including the modified Value Added Taxes and Housing Levy contained in the Finance Act 2023,
pending the outcome of a related case currently before the High Court.
“The four sets of written submissions filed out of time by the applicants on 15th August 2023 on the
Court’s online platform be and are hereby struck out, “the judgment read in part.
President William Ruto’s administration intends to raise an additional Ksh211 billion through new
taxes included in the Act, and has argued that delaying the introduction of the new taxes will impede
government operations.
The Judges argued in their judgment that suspending the Act, as recognized by the Court of Appeal,
would have had an impact on government operations.
The Supreme Court also stated that Omtatah misinterpreted an earlier judgment in a separate case on which their case had its basis.
“It is important to clarify that this Court in the said decision did not pronounce itself on any
exceptional or unique circumstances that would warrant it to entertain an appeal emanating from
Rule 5(2)(b) as alluded by the applicants,” the Judges ruled.
“The appeal also did not arise from an order made under Rule 5(2)(b) and we reiterated the settled
position that this Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain an appeal arising from the exercise of the Court
of Appeal’s discretion under the said Rule.”
The Court of Appeal lifted the orders suspending the implementation of the Finance Act 2023 on July 28 after Treasury CS Njuguna Ndungú filed a petition saying the government was losing half a billion shillings daily when the Act was suspended.
Also Read: Judiciary Transfers Judge Who Suspended Finance Act 2023
