Kenya’s president has signed the country’s new gambling tax into law, eliminating the possibility that parliament could attempt a hail mary vote to override presidential preferences.

On Wednesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta formally signed the Finance Bill 2017 into law, eight days after he rejected a previous version of the bill because he felt the proposed tax rate on gambling revenue wasn’t high enough.

The new bill imposes a uniform 35% tax rate on all gambling revenue – betting, gaming, lotteries and prize competitions – which was less than the 50% rate originally proposed by Kenya’s Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich but well above the rates operators had been paying. For example, Kenya-licensed sports betting operators had previously been subject to a rate of just 7.5%.

The 35% rate suggested as a compromise by Kenyatta was approved by the House Finance Committee last Friday, the final day of the legislative session ahead of the August 8 national elections. Parliamentarians had earlier rejected Rotich’s 50% plan and a two-thirds vote by the full 349-member House could have overruled Kenyatta’s compromise had MPs not been off campaigning.