By James Anyanzwa

Nairobi, Kenya: Kenyans are optimistic that the Jubilee Government’s first Budget will trim the huge public sector wage bill and make public procurement faster and more transparent as well as reliable.

According to a survey by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Kenyans also want the Government to strengthen regional ties with East African Community (EAC) member states to boost regional trade.

They want the Government to stabilise the power sector and lower electricity costs that have increased the cost of living and made the country an expensive investment destination.

The IEA’s Citizen Alternative Budget (2013), which was unveiled yesterday, also proposes the removal of user fees from public hospitals to enable the poor access better health facilities and referral hospitals.

The Government has also been urged to improve resource allocation towards setting up of youth-friendly centres in public health facilities.

It has been asked to refrain from randomly upgrading polytechnics to universities, saying this will create a gap between the population in need of technical skills and those in need of professional skills

Pension concerns

“Involvement of the youth in planning and implementation of community development projects will help in ownership and sustainability of projects such as Kazi Kwa Vijana,” said Raphael Muya, an official at the institute.

There are also calls for increased investment in reforms and strengthening of agricultural research and extension to improve the development and dissemination of productivity enhancing technology and increased support in value addition.

Kenyans also want the Government to make pension savings mandatory for all income-earning persons in the country, and allow individuals to contribute amounts above National Social Security Fund minimums to a scheme of their choice.

Other proposals including maintaining the current excise duty tax structure on tobacco and doing away with tax holidays as most companies have abused this privilege by exiting the country as soon as the concessions expire.

“This has been amply demonstrated in Kenya’s export processing zones. In addition, they could simply tax shift where double taxation treaties exist,” said Mr Muya