2018/2019 budget not aligned to Uhuru Big Four agenda

The National Treasury has not aligned the budget to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s development agenda, a powerful committee of Parliament has said.

The remarks pour cold water on the lofty prospects.

"The 2018/2019 budget policy statement (BPS) has no connection with President Kenyatta's Big Four agenda," said the Budget and Appropriations Committee.

According to the Kimani Ichung'wah-led team, which is charged with examining the BPS and making recommendations to Parliament, the implementation of Uhuru's highly-publicised agenda is not well articulated.

"There appears to be a disconnect between the BPS and the introduction of the Big Four agenda as the BPS has not indicated any radical shift in its expenditure plans to reflect a clear plan of action towards achieving the Big Four agenda," says the committee.

Phased out

The team is also concerned that despite the agenda being for five years, the BPS lacks any indication that the resources required for the agenda have been costed and phased out for implementation.

"It appears that the BPS was completed without creating the necessary space for the Big Four agenda. As such, there are serious concerns on how the Big Four plan will be implemented," adds the committee.

Further, the team observes that the BPS has not explained clearly the roles that will be played by national and devolved governments in achieving the plan.

This paints a gloomy picture of Uhuru's agenda, viewed by many political commentators as his blueprint to leave a good legacy when his final term ends.

Affordable housing is one of the Big Four delivery pillars that also has food security, affordable healthcare, and revamping the manufacturing sector.

Ichung'wah's team further notes various departmental committees had also expressed concerns the Big Four agenda had not been provided with adequate resources.

According to the committee, focus appears to be mostly on targets and outputs, with no clear strategy on how the economy will get there or how extra capacity will be created or expanded.

"As a result, there is no accountability framework, that is, which actors will implement the projects, how they will go about it, and the resources allocated to them," notes the 27-member budget committee.

The team notes the starting point of the agenda should have been formulation of a results matrix to enable creation of a comprehensive plan touching on specific targets and strategies to achieve them.

Parliament wants the Environment Ministry to hire more officials for the enforcement of the ban on plastic bags.

The National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee has recommended an increase in the number of officers attached to the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) to boost the regulator’s capacity to police the ban that came into effect last year.

The team in its recommendations to Treasury following submissions by different parliamentary committees said the capacity-constrained Nema faced the risk of being overwhelmed by dealers of polythene bags that are exploiting the capacity gap to create a black market for the banned plastics.