By James Anyanzwa
NAIROBI, KENYA: The parliamentary Budget and Appropriations committee has recommended major cuts in budgetary allocations to various ministries and government agencies with a view of freeing resources to priority areas.
The total budget for 2013/2014 financial year stands at Sh 1.64 trillion with development and recurrent spending taking 43 per cent and 57 per cent of the total budget respectively.
Some of the projects earmarked for additional funding include Konza City project (Sh2 billion), forensic laboratory and crime research centre and CCTVs (1.2 billion), Communication equipment (Sh4 billion), traffic reforms (Sh200 million) and establishment of modern laboratory services by the National Environmental Management Authority (Sh500 million).
The Committee has drastically trimmed down the National Treasury’s budget by Sh9.91 billion and recommended an immediate winding up of the Poverty Eradication Commission (PEC) as part of austerity measures to control public spending.
The 51-member Committee has also recommended the slashing of the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) budget by 5.5 billion (from Sh24.5 billion to Sh19 billion) and directed that the threshold for the Judiciary be limited to Sh16.1 billion, which is Sh1 billion above the ceiling given to the Judiciary.
The Sh1 billion, the committee said, should be used to construct courts in the counties.
This comes amid rising concerns over the outrageous budgetary proposals presented by various government ministries, departments and commissions even as modalities of financing a historic Sh1.64 trillion budget for the 2013/2014 fiscal year remains a nightmare.
The Budget committee, which expects its fresh measures to save a massive Sh15.38 billion in expenditure cuts, also rejected the Judiciary’s request of Sh300 million for purchase of an aircraft.
It also recommended allocations to all other commissions to be reduced by 15 per cent to create savings amounting to Sh1.3 billion.
The committee headed by Mbeere South MP Mutava Musyimi has also reduced the recurrent budget for all transfers to semi-automous government agencies (SAGAs) by Sh3.7 billion (five per cent).
The reduction however excludes SAGAs in the ministries of Education, Science and Technology, Health, Transport and Infrastructure, Environment, Water and Natural Resources, Energy and Petroleum, Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Industrialization and Enterprise Development and Mining.
The exclusion also includes the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), National Museums of Kenya, Auditor General and constitutional commissions such as parliamentary service commission and the Judiciary.
In addition the committee has instructed the National Treasury to cut spending on hospitality supplies, foreign travel, printing and advertising across all government agencies of the National government by Sh1.3 billion (30 per cent).
“ Hard times call for difficult choices. The Government must reduce its appetite and contain the public spending. We are mortgaging the future generations through the build up of a debt which we are incurring to meet recurrent expenditures,” said Musyimi
“ Approving the estimates as submitted would be perpetuating the burden we are heaping on our children.”
The committee raised concerns that huge sums of money is being spent on numerous non-core items such as external travel and hospitality among others.
The committee whose report was tabled before parliament yesterday reduced the budget for the Poverty Eradication Commission by Sh170 million and ordered the Cabinet Secretary in-charge of Devolution and Planning to explore modalities of winding it up within the 2013/14 financial year.
The committee noted that the commission has ceased to perform its intended purpose.
Meanwhile the Budget Committee has recommended additional allocations to various priority areas.
These include Ministry of East Africa Affairs, Commerce and Tourism (Sh3 billion), Ministry of Industrialization and Enterprise Development (Sh3 billion), Ministry of Devolution and Planning (Sh1.3 billion) and Director of Public Prosecution (Sh300 million).
The committee also recommended additional allocation of Sh1 billion towards revamping the Kenya National Spatial Data Infrastructure (Geomapping) under the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development.
Other additional allocations include the Killer Gotu Bridge in Isiolo (Sh200 million), Konza City (Sh300 million) and Auditor General’s office (Sh500 million).
Amongst the government agencies and commissions under the National Treasury that have been starved of cash include Public Procurement Oversight Authority (PPOA) whose budget has been cut by Sh19 million.
The amount allocated to the human resource reforms and the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) has been reduced Sh1.5 billion and Sh350 million respectively.
The allocation for establishing an expert/service scheme has been scaled down to Sh200 million.
On the other hand allocations to Constitutional reforms, irrigation projects to schools, construction of green houses in schools, irrigation infrastructure and Privatization Commission have been reduced to zero.
The committee also reallocated funds from areas where absorption capacity has been lacking to areas of high priority.
The committee noted that it was necessary to avoid holding funds which would have otherwise be utilized to meet other pressing needs.
According to the committee noted the low absorption rate of funds is due to lengthy and bureaucratic procurement procedures.
The committee raised concerns that the country has focused more on increasing government spending as opposed to creating surplus and allowing a private sector led economic growth.
The 2013/14 budget marks a great milestone in the public finance architecture in this country.
This is because the budget in process fully ushers in devolved form of government envisaged under the Constitution.
Unlike in the past, resources are now being shared between the national government and 47 county governments according to the responsibilities of each level of government.
“ We must accept that Kenyans have a lot of expectations. However as we all know, the administrative structures created by the constitution are many and expensive. This calls for serious reflection,” said Musyimi,
“ It is therefore demanded of us to soberly discuss how to reduce some of the huge expenditures of these institutions without negatively impacting on their services. We have all seen the many fuel guzzlers in the streets of Nairobi belonging to some of these institutions. More so, the number of public servants has increased substantially.”
The committee noted that the number of public servants would have more than doubled by the end of this year, thereby reversing the gains realized from the rationalization of the public sector 10 years ago.
The country’s public expenditure has more than doubled in the last decade and is tipped to grow beyond 50 per cent if both the national government and the county governments continue to expand through creations of new institutions and units of administration.
“In addition as the government continues to borrow to finance the deficit arising from underperformance of revenues, the public debt repayment increases,” said Musyimi
The committee also recommended the revamping of the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) to provide farmers with affordable loans and instructed the government to address the concerns of national agricultural institutions such as Kenya Planters Co-operative Union (KPCU) and National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB).
