Molo MP and the National Assembly Finance chair Kuria Kimani has revealed that he received a whopping Kshs168,000 from Kenyans who were seeking to verify his identity, when MPs’ phone numbers were leaked in an attempt to shoot down the Finance Bill 2024.
The lawmakers are currently debating on the bill after it was tabled on Tuesday June 17, 2024.
Speaking at the National Assembly on Wednesday, Kuria said that he was confused about what to do with the money considering that it is unlawful for honourable members to receive such gifts from the public and efforts to refund the money had proved futile.
“In a very special way, although these people bridged the Data Protection Act by sharing our numbers with Kenyans, but I also thank the Kenyans who wrote to us through SMS that called us and some of them were generous enough to send us Ksh1 and more to confirm if our numbers were authentic.
“I have written to the clerk wondering what to do with the Ksh168,000 that was sent to e because receiving these gifts from members of the public is against the laws of this Republic,” the lawmaker said.
He added that he will further seek guidance from the speaker on what to do with the cash after the morning parliament session.
“I tried reversing it was impossible because it came in hundreds of thousands,” he said.
Mumias East MP Peter Salasya also admitted to receiving such gifts after their numbers were made public.
The youthful MP received Kshs40,000 which he contributed to a church in Kakamega county last Sunday.
Kenyans opposing the Finance Bill took to the streets in protests dubbed Occupy Parliament on Tuesday.
The protests are still ongoing in Kisumu and Mombasa.
Due to the mounting pressure, the government has since dropped some of the punitive proposals on the bill including VAT on bread, eggs, eco levy among others.
