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National Treasury CS John Mbadi during a media engagement on the Finance Bill 2026. [Benard Orwongo, Standard]
The debates preceding the passage of the Finance Bill 2026 in Parliament laid bare a striking thinness of deliberation within Kenya’s legislature. They confirmed what has long been suspected: That much of prevailing sentiment, particularly the anti-government rhetoric, is driven less by coherent reasoning than by a form of post-truth populism in which conviction often outruns analysis.
The Bill was designed to raise Sh120 billion to partially finance a Sh4.82 trillion budget for the coming fiscal year. Yet the debate that followed revealed a familiar blend of confusion and theatre.
One legislator, speaking with apparent authority, cited clause 159, despite the Bill containing only 157 clauses.
