National Treasury and Economic Planning Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi.
Treasury has finally admitted that questionable Sh73 billion was included in the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) that was submitted to the National Assembly.
In a letter dated February 25, sent to the National Assembly, the National Treasury has sought to amend the budget documents “by reducing Sh73 billion.”
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi explained that the Sh73 billion was on account of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) which was included in the ministerial expenditure under the State Department of Medical Services.
“However, the said amount is not included in the fiscal framework thus causing the difference between Sh4.336 trillion and Sh4.263 trillion,” reads the letter.
The document tabled before the House by the National Treasury stated that the projected expenditure under the fiscal framework amount was Sh4.263 trillion, and on the other hand, the projected expenditure on the BPS was Sh4.336 trillion.
Mr Mbadi said that in accordance with the Government Functions Statistics Manual 2014, social insurance schemes covering the community as a whole, or large sections of the community fall under Social Security Funds.
“To ensure consistency and to harmonise the projected ministerial expenditure for the financial year 2025/226 budget estimates with the fiscal framework, we propose to amend the ministerial expenditure under vote 1082 State Department for Medical Services by reducing Sh73 billion. The total ministerial expenditure will amount to Sh4.2 trillion,” Mr Mbadi said.
National Assembly Leader of Majority Kimani Ichung’wah said hawk-eyed members spotted the anomaly and brought it to the attention of the Treasury.
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah
“I hope this letter now clarifies the issue because we don’t want another computer error,” Mr Ichung’wah said.
Last month, the National Assembly Committee on Finance and National Planning noticed the difference and demanded an explanation during a meeting with Treasury officials.
Documents presented by the Treasury before the committee indicated there is Sh4.263 trillion as the anchor amount for the 2025/26 financial year budget as well Sh4.336 trillion for the same purpose, bringing a difference of Sh73 billion.
The first expenditure figures given by the Treasury for the 2025/2026 budget have Sh4.262. trillion as the overall amount which includes recurrent expenditure of Sh3,096.3 billion; Sh725.1 billion is marked as development expenditure, Sh436 billion for transfer to county governments and Sh5 billion as Contingency Fund.
The second figure expenditures in the treasury documents has an overall amount of Sh4.336.096.2 trillion which Sh2,562,004.9 trillion allocation for the National Government, Sh2,493,766.9 trillion for executive, Sh42,488.2 billion for parliament and Sh25,749.8 billion for the judiciary Consolidated fund services has Sh1,368,994.9a and county government shareable revenue Sh405,069.4 billion.
smundu@ke.nationmedia.com
