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President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto had an ugly confrontation during a State House meeting with Jubilee MPs meant to convince the National Assembly to pass Finance Bill 2018.
This is according to nominated MP Maina Kamanda, a close ally of President Kenyatta who was present at the tense meeting held a few months after the handshake deal between the head of state and ODM Leader Raila Odinga.
Kamanda said Ruto called on the MPs to reject the Finance Bill 2018 – a move the MP says was meant to embarrass the President.
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8 percent VAT
“I remember when we were called to State House as Uhuru needed us to pass the Finance Bill 2018 to help his government raise revenue for development. At that meeting, the Deputy President bitterly opposed his boss and even some of our Mt Kenya MPs were on his side. They were only interested in embarrassing the President,” the former Starehe MP told Kameme FM.
The Finance Bill had sought to introduce an 8 percent VAT on fuel products – a move that was widely unpopular among members of the public.
The bill was eventually passed after Odinga marshalled his MPs to boycott the vote – denying the National Assembly the quorum (233 MPs) needed to veto a Presidential memorandum.
The Deputy President’s office did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.