Parliament seeks public input on supplementary budget after Finance Bill collapse

Kenyans have until next Wednesday to provide feedback on the first Supplementary Budget projections, which have, for the first time in budget history, had a significant impact on the State House and other state agencies' budgets.

The serious budget cuts come following the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024 by President William Ruto after waves of protests against the contents of the controversial bill.

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula has directed the Clerk of the House to circulate the notification of the supplementary budget estimates to all members of Parliament.

Because of the budget cuts, Wetangula has directed the Clerk to ensure that all committee sittings are undertaken within the Parliament.

"In line with the current austerity measures and the expenditure reductions, the attendant sittings of Committees are held within the precincts of Parliament. Should the available meeting rooms be inadequate, any affected Committee(s) is to hold its sittings in other government facilities," noted Wetangula.

With the document before the House, Wetangula directed that the Budget and Appropriations Committee is required to guide the process, seek public views, and report to the House on or before Wednesday, 24th July 2024, to enable the House to subsequently consider the Supplementary Estimates and the Supplementary Appropriation legislation to give effect to the Revised Fiscal Framework and the proposed expenditure reductions.

The Financial Year 2024/25 Budget was to be funded through additional revenue measures amounting to Sh344.3 billion contained in the Finance Bill, 2024, which the President declined to assent to. This resulted in a comparable finance imbalance, implying that funding expenditures totalling Sh 344.3 billion are unsustainable.

In the Supplementary Budget, total revenues have been revised from the original projection of 18.5 to 17.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while total expenditure and Net Lending have been revised from the original projection of 22.1 per cent to 21.4 per cent of GDP.

The slashing of the budget has seen uproar from the State House and other agencies like the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). State House warned that its operations could grind to a halt following budget cuts necessitated by the rejection of the 2024/2025 Finance Bill.

According to State House Comptroller Katoo Ole Metito, the State House budget has been reduced by 54 per cent, from Sh 9.496 billion to Sh 4.382 billion, which will have a huge impact on the running of the State House.

On Thursday, Katoo urged the Committee on Administration and Internal Security to reconsider the severe cuts.

"If you put yourself in the shoes of the President, he says we can't be pushing for budget cuts in other ministries without leading by example, but in the end, we might bring to a halt all the activities of the office. Let us reduce in a reasonable way, not close the office," he told the committee.

The staff working in the Office of the First Lady and her advisors will be the most affected, as Sh.547 million that had been set aside for salaries has been cut following the president's pronouncement that the office will cease to exist.

However, Katoo is warning of legal implications if the staff's contracts are terminated without following labour laws and wants the committee to reinstate the money.

"We are requesting that those funds be retained for now as we try to regularize. These people had contracts; most were not permanent and pensionable. They serve during the tenure of the presidency. Stopping their contracts just like that will have some legal repercussions," he said.

Katoo also lamented the withdrawal of funds meant for confidential use in the office of the President, stating that it could have serious repercussions on how the entire government is run.

"Look at the vote like confidential expenditure; it has been reduced to zero, and yet that is the heart of government operations," he lamented.