Committee moves Sh12b counties cash to MPs' kitties

Kenya: The National Assembly's Budget and Appropriations Committee has slashed the budget for county governments by Sh12 billion.

The MPs shared this money between the Constituency Development Fund (which the High Court declared unconstitutional), affirmative action fund and a new fund for senators.

The MPs have also created a Sh4 billion fund to build youth polytechnics in all the 290 constituencies, and insisted that the money, Sh14 million per constituency, should go directly to the constituencies.

This means even if the money is disbursed to the county governments, it will only be used within the constituencies for that specific purpose. In a report tabled in the National Assembly, the MPs said Sh2 billion should go to CDF, bringing the total to Sh35 billion for the next financial year; Sh2 billion to the affirmative action fund and Sh1.45 billion to senators for "monitoring and evaluation".

The decision to cut the money from Sh258 billion to Sh245 billion will rattle governors, and give fresh impetus to their push for a set percentage in the Constitution.

The committee also made good their threat to check spending in the counties. It has allocated Sh1 billion for the Auditor General and another Sh1 billion for the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to keep an eye on the revenue the national government sends to counties every financial year.

Voting equipment

They have also allocated Sh1.8 billion for voter registration to be given to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

"IEBC needs to prepare for the 2017 elections by undertaking voter registration and purchasing of voting equipment. However, considering how IEBC prepared for the 2013 elections, there is need for earlier preparations," the committee noted in its report.

The MPs also set aside Sh1 billion for mileage of all the 418 of them in the bicameral House that comprises the National Assembly and the Senate. They have also pushed for another Sh1.7 billion for "committee operations" – basically for sitting allowance, perks and travel.

The lawmakers have also asked for Sh1.3 billion for constituency offices, Sh700 million to boost security in Parliament buildings and Sh600 million for renting offices for the MPs. The security spending arises because of the sustained threats on the august House from Al-Shabaab.

The MPs have also allocated Sh380 million to boost the ongoing efforts to revamp tourism in the country.