Nairobi MCAs resume sittings with budget topping the agenda
A past session of Nairobi County Assembly. Nairobi MCAs resume sittings after a two-month recess with the budget at the top of the agenda.
The Nairobi County Assembly resumes sittings on Tuesday February 8 after a two-month recess that started on December 2, with the budget at the top of the agenda.
The ward reps will finalise the Finance Bill, 2021, which includes a raft of new levies.
Residents have already expressed their views on the bill that proposes levies aimed at raising Sh19.8 billion in own-source revenues in the financial year to June 30, 2022.
Budget and Appropriations Committee chairperson Robert Mbatia said the panel will table the report on the bill as one of the first agenda items of the House.
“We … looked into the submissions given by different stakeholders last month and now what is remaining is submitting the report back to the House for consideration,” he said.
“As we resume, we expect the House to consider the tabled report and take a decision, which is to either approve or reject it before the end of this month.”
In the new proposals, land rates will be charged at 0.115 percent of current property value, setting the stage for costly levies for property owners in the capital.
If approved, the new taxes will take effect immediately after Governor Ann Kananu signs the bill or after 14 days of the publication of the bill in the Kenya Gazette.
The next agenda will be receiving from the executive the County Fiscal Strategy Paper (CFSP) for the financial year ending on June 30, 2023.
The CFSP is a guide to the county budget process, with binding policy directions on budget formulation and implementation in the medium term.
Speaker Benson Mutura will also be expected to officially declare the Korogocho ward seat vacant following the death of the area’s MCA Naftali Ogola Owuor in December last year after a long illness.
He will write to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission about the declaration, paving the way for a by-election.
The assembly is also expected to dispense with 97 requests for statements that piled up from the fourth and fifth sessions of the assembly calendar.
MCAs will also debate 11 bills tabled during the fifth session.