Esther Passaris Defends Gachagua's Remarks on the Finance Bill 2023

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

On Saturday, June 3, 2023, the DP while addressing a crowd emphasised that the bill must pass and further issued warnings to MPs, saying lawmakers who oppose the bill should not ask the government to construct roads in their constituencies. Passaris commented in an interview with KTN that the DP had been misinterpreted and his remarks taken out of context. She further clarified that the DP had not indicated that regions in which the MPs were against the bill would be omitted from 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. 

Passaris while defending the country's second-in-command alluded that even if the MPs didn't back the bill, they still had access to funds at the end of the day. She mentioned that Kenya has structures and laws in place including the Equalization Fund and Devolution. The MP added that some counties might not back the bill but the MPs still have the right to acquire funds. She referred to Gachagua's comment as a misinterpretation.