Same Script, New Year? Avoiding Missteps In The 2025 Finance Bill

In June 2024, Kenya found itself in a fiscal crisis of confidence. For the first time in recent memory, the President declined to assent to the Finance Bill — not with minor reservations, but with a sweeping rejection of all clauses. The move, dramatic and unprecedented, forced a national reckoning: had we taken the annual budget-making process too far from the people it is meant to serve?

Now, as the 2025 Finance Bill is undergoing public scrutiny, we are presented with a critical test: have we learnt from last year's missteps, or are we risking a repeat performance, with the same ingredients of opacity and implementation gaps?

Three areas in particular warrant close attention. Not only because of what they suggest about the content of the 2025 Finance Bill, but also because of what they signal about the broader trajectory of Kenya's public finance governance.