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Win for banks after MPs skip vote on Uhuru’s interest rates memo

By David Mwere November 5th, 2019 1 min read

Tuesday November 5, 2019 marked the official return of more expensive loans after Members of Parliament failed to get the requisite numbers to overturn president Uhuru Kenyatta’s reservations on Finance Bill 2019.

Only 161 out of 349 MPs were in the House at the time the memorandum was being considered, meaning that the matter could not even proceed to the actual vote.

The constitution provides that at least two-thirds majority or 233 of the 349 MPs must be in the House for a possible veto of a president’s memorandum.

The MPs had earlier, through a simple majority but in a chaotic fashion, amended the president’s text to cushion those already servicing the loans from being subjected to high interest rates by commercial banks.

The net implication of this means that the Bill will now be taken to the president for assent.