The speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi has revealed how Members of Parliament walked out of the House before casting their votes on the important interest capping law.
According to the speaker, 270 MPs were inside the chamber before the vote was taken but only 161 remained behind when it was taken.
The 270 number was more than the two-thirds majority that was required to overturn President Uhuru Kenyatta's memorandum on the interest rates.
“With regard to the number of members who attended Wednesday’s sitting, I can confirm that the biometric register and the electronic log-in system indicate that a total of not less than 270 members were present at that sitting," Muturi said as quoted by Business Daily.
"Since at the time when I was ascertaining the threshold to make a decision on the Memorandum there were about 161 members present, you agree with me that the die had been cast, given that there was less than 233 members present,” he added.
By leaving the chambers, the 109 MPs created a quorum hitch that meant that the interest capping law would not be overturned.
MPs had capped the lending rates to not more than 4 per cent in a bid to shield the ordinary Kenyans from expensive loans.
This removed all the obstacles in President Uhuru's way in his bid to remove the caps that were enacted by parliament in 2016.