Eyes on Ruto after MPs pass Finance Bill, 2025

All eyes are now on President William Ruto after the National Assembly passed the Finance Bill, 2025, on June 19.

Members of Parliament approved the crucial legislation after rejecting several contentious proposals that had sparked public outrage for potentially burdening taxpayers further.

The Bill is a critical instrument through which the government outlines revenue-raising measures to fund the executive's agenda for the 2025/26 financial year.

Following its smooth passage in the House on Thursday, the President is expected to assent to the Bill at any time, although the Constitution gives him 14 days to do so.

Last year, a nationwide wave of protests forced President Ruto to reject the Finance Bill, 2024, referring it back to Parliament for amendments and deletions.

Consequently, the country continued to operate under the Finance Act, 2023, to calm public anger over the controversial tax proposals contained in the rejected Bill.

The final vote on the Finance Bill, 2025, was taken during the afternoon sitting of the House on Thursday, June 19, following the conclusion of debate and the Third Reading the previous night.

In the version of the Bill now awaiting presidential assent, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) was stripped of a contentious provision that would have granted it unfettered access to customers’ financial records.

The Bill is expected to raise approximately Sh24 billion in revenue, significantly lower than the National Treasury’s initial projection of Sh30 billion.

This revenue will contribute to the government’s target of Sh3.316 trillion in ordinary revenue for the 2025/26 fiscal year.

Finance and Planning Committee Chairperson Kimani Kuria noted on June 17 that the Bill carries the lowest revenue projections in the past three years among all revenue-raising measures.

He revealed that the government had initially targeted Sh344 billion from the rejected Finance Bill, 2024, and later projected Sh49 billion from the Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 2024.

The Finance Act of 2022 had a projected revenue of Sh22 billion, the Finance Act of 2023 Sh211 billion, the defunct Finance Bill, 2024 Sh344 billion, and the Tax Laws Amendment Act, 2024 Sh49 billion. The Finance Bill, 2025, will only collect Sh24 billion,” Kuria stated.

Notably, the House adopted amendments by the Finance and Planning Committee that rejected KRA’s proposal for unrestricted access to personal data, arguing that it violated Article 31(c) and (d) of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to privacy.