Government spent Sh181 million for Haiti mission -Report
By Maureen Kinyanjui |
The allocation contradicts prior government claims that no taxpayer funds were being used to finance the mission in Haiti.
The Kenya Kwanza government authorised Sh181 million to support its Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in Haiti.
This is according to the latest budget implementation review report for the first quarter of 2024-25.
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The approval, granted by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakan'go on September 19, 2024, represents a slight reduction of Sh17,482 from the amount initially approved by the Treasury Cabinet Secretary.
The allocated funds, under Article 223 of the Constitution, are intended to cover additional spending by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) during the budget implementation phase.
This particular allocation is for the National Police Service and represents just 0.02 per cent of the net budget estimates, staying well within the constitutional ceiling of 10 per cent for additional spending.
However, the allocation contradicts prior government claims that no taxpayer funds were being used to finance the mission in Haiti.
In a statement earlier this year, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing'oei clarified that the United Nations was covering the operation's costs, calling the claim that taxpayer funds were being used "completely untrue."
Sing'oei confirmed that the UN had provided adequate funds to support the mission.
"It is completely untrue that the current deployment of our police is being underwritten by our exchequer. The actual position is that this deployment is being underwritten by the United Nations," he stated.
"The UN has released adequate funds to run the exercise."
While the report does not confirm whether the Sh181 million is part of the Sh17.6 billion the government has spent in line with Article 223, documents tabled in Parliament indicate that Sh2.1 billion of this amount was allocated specifically for Kenya's peacekeeping role in Haiti.
The funds were approved as the third batch of 600 Kenyan police officers, who have completed their training, prepares to deploy to Haiti.
The officers were initially scheduled to leave on November 28, 204 but were delayed due to logistical issues.
The government continues to prepare for further deployments as part of its ongoing peacekeeping efforts in the Caribbean nation.
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