Esther Passaris. [courtesy]
In an interview with KTN News on Tuesday, June 6, Passaris stated that Gachagua’s remarks were misconstrued.
She argued that what the second in Command meant was that the Kenya Kwanza government needs to tax Kenyans to be able to fund development projects.
“There is a different way to take English, it is not our mother tongue and it is complex. It is like we need the taxes to be able to build roads, but I did not hear him say specifically that if you don’t support this Finance Bill, you will not get any support in terms of infrastructure,” Passaris said.
She added, “We have structures and laws; we’ve got equalisation fund, devolution and there will be counties that will not support the bill but at the end of the day, the MPs have a right of access to funds… That was a misquote.”
Speaking on Sunday, June 5 in Narok, Gachagua stated that the Kenya Kwanza Government is relying on the Finance Bill to raise revenue and therefore MPs should support it if they expect to get development funds.
“Some of you leaders are lying to Kenyans, but know that if your MP is opposed to the Finance Bill, they should not ask for roads,” Gachagua said.
Senate Majority leader Aaron Cheruiyot who also attended the Sunday service asked Azimio politicians opposing the bill to forego their mortgages to prove their objection to the Housing Fund.
“We want to challenge our colleagues from Azimio, if indeed you don’t believe in the housing agenda, return the mortgages you have taken. Let’s stop this hypocrisy,” he said.
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