‘That was misquote’ – Passaris defends Gachagua over Finance Bill 2023 remarks

Nairobi County Woman Rep Esther Passaris has defended Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's remarks on the Finance Bill 2023.

The DP while addressing a crowd on Saturday, June 3, 2023, insisted that the aforementioned bill must pass adding that MPs who opposed it should not ask the government to construct roads in their constituencies.

“There is a lot of incitement around this whole Finance Bill issue. I was in Kitui yesterday and their MP spoke about cessation and people were clapping. And then soon after he was telling me they need roads, where does he expect the money to build roads to come from?” the DP posed.

“Some of you leaders are lying to Kenyans, but know that if your MP is opposed to the Finance Bill, they should not ask for roads,” he added.

Passaris defends Gachagua

Passaris while speaking during an interview with KTN noted that the DP was misquoted and his remarks blown out of context.

She also noted that the DP was not specific that the areas where MPs oppose the Finance Bill 2023 will be left out of the infrastructure budget.

“There is a different way to take English, it is not our mother tongue and it is complex. It is like we need the taxes to be able to build roads, but I did not hear him say specifically that if you don’t support this Finance Bill, you will not get any support in terms of infrastructure,” Passaris said.

While defending the country's second-in-command, Passaris further alluded that regardless of whether the MPs supported the aforementioned bill, the lawmakers still had access to funds at the end of the day.

“We have structures and laws; we’ve got equalisation fund, devolution and there will be counties that will not support the bill but at the end of the day, the MPs have a right of access to funds… That was a misquote,” she added.