Set up joint kitty for ministries but give the taxpayers value for money

The National Treasury

The proposal by the National Treasury to create a single kitty from which all ministries can draw funds for operations has been long overdue. As National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich puts it, the move will aerate government operations with much-needed efficiency and save taxpayers billions. We agree with Rotich.

Consolidating the money allocated to state entities in one fund will make budgeting easy and reduce the cost of handling money by the entities, which in most instances require boards to administer the funds. But, wait, this is not the first time we are hearing of such a proposal. The merger of state corporations, a process that started in 2015, is yet to catch on, though the government insists is on course. National Treasury has already started implementing its own, merging Youth, Women and Uwezo funds into Biashara Fund. But this is not really what the government promised Kenyans.