Members of the National Assembly have gained substantially after allocation to the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) and National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) was enhanced by Sh10 billion in the 2023/24 financial year.
The enhanced allocation to NG-CDF and NGAAF is contained in the Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) report on the 2023 Budget Policy Statement (BPS) that was adopted by the National Assembly yesterday.
Of the Sh10 billion, NG-CDF will get Sh9 billion on top of the Sh44 billion allocated in the current financial year. This means each of the 290 constituencies will get an extra allocation of between Sh20 million and Sh30 million, with Sh1 billion going to the NGAAF kitty controlled by the 47 county woman MPs.
BAC, chaired by Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, said the increase in the NG-CDF and NGAAF is to enable the executive and the lawmakers to take care of the needs of their constituents.
“After consultations with the executive, some of the recommendations that we have made are in tandem with the executive as they appreciate most of the work will be done through CDF,” said Mr Nyoro as he rallied members to adopt the report.
The adoption of the BPS now forms the basis for the National Treasury to prepare the 2023/24 budget estimates for the national government and have them presented to the National Assembly.
In the adopted report, BAC has capped the expenditure of the national government for the 2023/24 financial year at Sh2.3 trillion. Of this expenditure ceiling, the executive will spend Sh2.2 trillion of which Sh7.7 billion has been allocated to the Office of the Auditor-General and Parliament Sh40.4 billion, which is less than the Sh50 billion allocated in the current financial year. Judiciary has been allocated Sh22.99 billion — about Sh4 billion more compared to the current financial year’s allocation.
The proposed equitable allocation to the 47 county governments is capped at Sh385.42 billion, a figure that will likely be contested by the governors who are pushing for an enhanced allocation of Sh425 billion — about Sh18 billion more than what the Commission on Revenue Allocation recommended in its report.
However, the real figure will be contained in the Division of Revenue Bill 2023, to be presented to Parliament in the coming days for enactment.
The allocation to the county additional allocations has been approved at Sh44.32 billion and Sh4.5 billion to the controversial Managed Equipment Service (MES). It appears the Kenya Kwanza administration is determined to continue with the MES deal, whose allocation will be subject to the submission of an evaluation report.
The MPs also approved Sh15 billion on top of the Sh55 billion for road improvements in the 290 constituencies.
The government institutions that got the lion’s share of the budget are Infrastructure Sh235.8 billion, with Sh61 billion for Transport and Sh94.76 billion for Medical Services.
The National Police Service will get Sh107.93 billion after President William Ruto directed that it be given a separate vote head separate from the Internal Security state department. The changes have seen the Internal Security department left with Sh28.5 billion. The Ministry of Defence has been allocated Sh171.7 billion, Higher Education and Research Sh116.9 billion, Basic Education Sh134.9 billion and National Treasury Sh125 billion.
The Office of the newly created Prime Cabinet Secretary will get Sh2.1 billion. There were also significant reductions in other areas of the government from the budgets they presented to the National Assembly for approval.
The MPs slashed the National Treasury budget by Sh6.8 billion, National Intelligence Service by Sh3 billion, State Department for Education by Sh1 billion, Foreign Affairs Vocational and Technical Training by Sh94.45 million and Energy by Sh1.03 billion.
