Narok Senator Ledama Olekina has disclosed that the Kenyan Parliament consistently ignores opinions expressed by Kenyans during public participation.

Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV on Thursday June 13, 2024, Senator Olekina noted that ideas put forth during public comment are never taken into consideration when making laws.

He stuck to his claim that not even the opinions expressed by the public during Monday’s unpleasant Finance Bill public participation will be taken into consideration.

“All the views of Kenyans in regards to the painful reality, none of them will be considered,” he said.

Senator Olekina said that in order to promote unity between the government and its constituents, space must be made available for Kenyan residents to understand the 2024–2025 budget.

“The most important thing we need to focus on is to try to listen to Kenyans because we are not listening to them,” he stated.

Additionally, he asserted that the government’s decision to raise tax rates in the proposed budget was the result of pressure from outside parties hoping to exert influence over the country’s finances.

“The challenge is that we are not controlling ourselves. The IMF and the World Bank are the ones who are dictating which policies we should be able to put,” said Ledama.

“You will continue to have a utopian budget that will be followed by a number of supplementary budgets for you to try and realign your own budget to see what you can be able to achieve, ” he added

The budget that is being proposed has been upgraded from Ksh.3.7 trillion for the 2023–2024 fiscal year to a projected Ksh.4 trillion.

Today, June 13, 2024, Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS) Njuguna Ngung’u will present the budget to Parliament for reading and possible debate.

Ahead of the Financial Year budget reading, tight security was seen outside the National Treasury building.