Petition exposes Sh975 billion debt linked to Treasury’s budget law breach
The borrowing was made possible by the Treasury's failure to submit revenue estimates to the National Assembly alongside expenditure estimates for the 2024/2025 financial year, as required by the Constitution.
A petition to the National Assembly has revealed that the government borrowed Sh974.9 billion without parliamentary approval, using the funds for recurrent expenditure in violation of the law.
According to the Kenya Christian Professional Forum (KCPF), the borrowing was made possible by the Treasury's failure to submit revenue estimates to the National Assembly alongside expenditure estimates for the 2024/2025 financial year, as required by the Constitution.
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The petition, filed by Fraud Risk Management Consultant Bernard Muchere and Senior Counsel Charles Kanjama, points out that omitting the revenue estimates opened a loophole for unchecked borrowing.
“Our concern is informed by the fact that contrary to the Constitution, the 2024/25 and the previous budgets contained only the estimates of expenditure, while advertently concealing the estimates of revenue from the public,” reads the petition.
Article 220 (1) of the Constitution mandates that both the national and county budgets must include estimates of revenue and expenditure, clearly separating recurrent and development spending. It also requires details on how any funding gaps will be filled.
By not presenting the full budget as required, the petitioners argue, the Treasury allowed the executive to go on a borrowing spree without proper legislative oversight.
They noted that the estimates of revenue were only uploaded to the Treasury’s portal and tabled in Parliament on June 13, far beyond the constitutional deadline of April 30.
The petition highlights that the Sh974.9 billion in borrowings contained in the delayed revenue estimates were not authorised under the Appropriation Act 2024. This Act only approved Sh277.82 billion in borrowing, specifically earmarked for development projects.
The petitioners further pointed to a statement issued by the Treasury on April 17, which detailed actual revenue and net exchequer issues as of March 28. That statement shows that over a nine-month period, the government borrowed Sh1.05 trillion despite MPs only approving development spending worth Sh170.8 billion.
This means that Sh874.8 billion was borrowed and spent on recurrent needs without approval, an amount that translates to Sh97 billion every month.
According to the petition, this approach has contributed to an increase in the country’s debt burden and violated the Public Finance Management Act, which limits loan financing to development use only.
The petition calls on the National Assembly to take action against what it describes as a serious violation of the law and oversight failure.
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