National Assembly Majority Whip Silvanus Osoro has come out to defend himself following allegations that some Azimio la Umoja MPs were manipulated to skip voting for the controversial Finance Bill 2023 in Parliament.
Osoro, on Thursday, was captured on tape admitting to have used crooked and unethical methods, including bribery, to persuade some Azimio MPs into skipping the parliamentary session on the day of voting.
“I had to look for ways by hook or crook to get it through. I had to manipulate systems; I looked for ways to get the opposition MPs to play to our tune. I conspired with some opposition MPs and got some of them to be absent from the House so that I could get the numbers. Some of them were sponsored to go abroad while others were bribed to feign illness,” Osoro said during a UDA recruitment drive in Kitutu Chache South Constituency according to the Nation.
In a rejoinder during an address at Calib secondary school in West Pokot County on Saturday, Osoro claimed that he was misquoted and all he did was invite the few Azimio MPs to share a ‘bowl of soup’ at parliament’s canteen, which he argues was translated to a symbolic reference to money.
“I am in charge of catering in the catering committee in parliament and I just said that I invited members from the opposition and I put them in the kitchen where our mess hall is and we had pumpkin soup now you went and changed that saying that a bowl of soup translates to money, MPs take soup as well,” he said.
He went on to assert that the government did not take any action to coerce Azimio MPs, arguing that the low turnout by opposition MPs affected their vote on the bill.
“The government did not use a single cent to convince Azimio MPs to vote they just did not show up. People should stop soiling the government’s name and those of MPs.”
The Finance Bill was assented into law by President Ruto on June 26 after being passed in the National Assembly.
Some of the MPs allied to the Azimio coalition known to have voted in support of the bill are Nairobi Woman Rep MP Esther Passaris and Lang’ata MP Felix Odiwuor (Jalang’o).
24 other ODM MPs who were absent during the voting session are now facing a disciplinary process within the party.
Meanwhile, the High Court has extended the conservatory orders suspending the implementation of the Finance Act 2023 which brought into effect the new all-time high fuel prices.
This after petitions filed by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah and one Peter Agoro, argued that the bill was founded on an illegality and thereby infringes and violates the Constitution.
