Details have emerged on how the Uhuru administration spent Sh54.68bn without approval at the tail end of his tenure.
Revelations have emerged that President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime spent Sh54.68 billion as he prepared to leave office
The revelations raised concerns over the move by the National Treasury to overstep its mandate as they used the funds without the approval of the National Assembly.
How Uhuru administration spent Sh54.68bn
The Parliamentary Budget Office informed the MPs in its presentations that Sh23.1 billion had already been deposited to the various state and federal government Ministries.
Additional funding of Sh16.6 billion has been given to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining for fuel price subsidies, Sh4.5 billion to the State Department for Crop Development and Agriculture Research for the maize flour subsidy, and Sh8.2 billion to the State Department for Basic Education for Kenya’s primary and secondary education.
Additionally, the National Treasury has paid Telkom a sum of Sh6.1 billion. Kenya’s Ministry of Defense received Sh3.5 billion for the development of a research hospital, while the Office of the President received Sh3.77 billion with no information provided regarding its use.
The Ministry of Health has also received Sh420 million for donor-funded projects, the State Department for University Education has received Sh139 million for donor-funded projects, and the State Department for Interior has received Sh125 million for security operations.
This makes the budget deficit a changing target and raises questions about the budget’s credibility since it makes the problem of unpaid bills, which the government has been attempting to resolve, worse.
“The National Treasury is showcasing how it has become opaque on a matter that should have a huge input from Kenyans,” said Dagorreti South MP John Kiarie.
The National Treasury is expected to prepare supplementary estimates I for the 2022/23 financial year to be regularized by the National Assembly in line with Article 223 of the constitution.
The supplementary budget will be above the Sh3.33 trillion budget that was passed by parliament in June this year.
This means that the government will have to borrow more funds which will further increase the debt profile to hit Sh9.4 trillion.
Article 223 of the constitution stipulates that the national government may spend money that has not been appropriated by Parliament but the expenditure must, however, not exceed 10 percent of the appropriated funds.
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