High Court Judge Mugure Thande declined to lift the suspension of the Finance Act 2023.
The judge ruled that the petitioners have a valid case and that lifting the suspension would cause harm to the public.
“Upon evaluation of the submissions, I have no difficulty finding that the petitioners have established a case with a probability of success,” High Court Judge Mugure Thande said.
The case will now be heard by a three-judge bench appointed by Chief Justice Martha Koome.
The suspension was challenged by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah, Eliud Matindi, Michael Otieno and four others, who claimed that the Finance Act 2023 was unconstitutional.
The state, represented by the Attorney General’s lawyers, had requested that the suspension be lifted.
In June, the National Treasury announced the FY 2023/24 budget totalling KES 3.7 Trillion, 8.7% higher than the previous year’s budget.
The budget targets to raise Ksh 2.90 Trillion in revenue while total expenditure is KES 3.7 Trillion.
The government projects to narrow the fiscal deficit to 4.4% of GDP in FY’2023/24, from the estimate of 5.8% of GDP in FY’2022/23.
The proposed tax measures in the Finance Bill 2023 are expected to add about Kshs 379.2 billion to the exchequer for the fiscal year 2023/24.
