Kenya: 35 State departments to receive Sh181b less in revised spending plan

CS Treasurer Henry Rotich

Some 35 State departments face budget cuts in the current financial year as National Treasury moves to scale down expenditure by Sh181 billion.

The supplementary budget tabled in Parliament shows the development budget has been scaled down by Sh213 billion while recurrent expenditure has been increased by Sh32 billion.

The cuts are expected to adversely compromise the ability of the Jubilee Government to deliver on its promises just eight months to the elections.

Key projects, including the Standard Gauge Railway, delivering 5,000 megawatts of power, putting 1 million acres under irrigation, reviving the tourism industry and reviewing mineral wealth, now face a reality check.

Infrastructure budget

In his proposals, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich has slashed Energy and Infrastructure budget by over Sh100 billion to cut costs.

At 23.4 per cent, Energy, Infrastructure and ICT had received the second largest share of the budget in June, but only ICT has received additional funds in the mini-budget.

Development expenditure for the Energy department has been slashed by Sh57 billion while the Petroleum department has lost Sh1.2 billion.

State department of Transport will have to do without Sh51 billion, most of which was allocated to the first phase of the Standard Gauge Railway project and roads expansions.

The Infrastructure development budget has been cut back by Sh27 billion, out of which Sh20 billion has been moved to its recurrent expenses. Public Works department has Sh1 billion less to spend.

The Treasury's own budget has been cut by Sh11 billion. However, most of the cuts are in development expenses (Sh13.8 billion) as Rotich's recurrent budget had been expanded by Sh1 billion.

"The reduction has been effected in the capital expenditure mainly on account of withdrawals from the Contingency Fund, expenditure rationalisation and delay in disbursement of funds from development partners," the supplementary budget read.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is however bent on delivering on free laptops with the Treasury increasing ICT budget by Sh3.7 billion and raising the number of targeted digital devices to 1.2 million, up from the 600,000.

Other notable budgetary increases are in the Interior ministry, which will receive Sh5.4 billion and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), which has received Sh1.7 billion more.

Planning under the Devolution ministry has lost Sh11.9 billion and will now only have to spend Sh26 billion on economic policy and national planning.

Housing and Urban Development have lost Sh8 billion while the University Education budget has been reduced by Sh5 billion.

The Ministry of Water and Irrigation will spend Sh24 billion less as the Government scraps some of the projects planned for this year to ensure Kenyans are food secure.

The Agriculture ministry's budget has been reduced by Sh4.9 billion, with subsidised fertiliser reduced by 91,000 metric tonnes.

Certified seeds to be distributed to farmers have also been reduced for rice, potatoes and soya beans.

The Government had planned to distribute 800 tractors to counties but it will now only send out five while acreage under forest to act as a buffer zone for the Mau tea zone has been reduced by 100 hectares.

President Kenyatta's government may also fail to go to the polls having delivered five new stadiums in Kisumu, Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret and Garissa.

The sports budget has been cut by Sh1 billion, with the targets for the five regional stadia reduced to 50 per cent completion.

The Sports ministry may also only have to send 10 teams to regional and international tournaments, down from 20 teams.

The newly constituted Judiciary will run on a lean budget, with the Treasury slashing Sh1.7 billion from Sh17 billion budget that been approved.

The Judiciary will only afford to train four out of seven judges of the Supreme Court.

The estimates for rehabilitating Mangrove ecosystems has been cut by half and the number of trees to be planted at Lake Naivasha reduced by 670,000. Upgrading of meteorological services has been slowed down and the number of technical staff training for low carbon emission scaled down.