How Treasury transacted Sh22.4b days to elections
National Treasury disbursed over Sh22.43 billion in August within two days to the general election after coercing the Controller of Budget (CoB) for approval, it has emerged.
Eight withdrawals which were done between August 4 and 5 as supplementary funding was done without the will of CoB Margaret Nyakang’o.
Some of the requests lacked adequate explanation, according to the CoB. One of the biggest expenditures was the Sh6.09 billion that was paid to British investment firm Helios Investment Partners which sold its 60 per cent stake in Telkom Kenya to the government.
Telkom Kenya, the country’s third-biggest mobile operator, accounts for only a five per cent share of the telco industry, with its connections falling in recent times.
The State Department for infrastructure requested Sh4.8 billion and Sh2.8 billion for the dualling of the Nairobi Eastern Bypass and the improvement of the Lamu-Ijara-Garissa road. Another Sh1.85 billion went to the construction of the Makupa causeway.
A bit fake
“Article 223 is a bit fake. People have taken advantage to seek funds which shouldn’t be the case. I rejected some of the withdrawals. Some were against my will because there was not enough explanation from the State departments that made the requests,” Nyakang’o told the Budget and Appropriation Committee led by Kiharu MP Ndidi Nyoro.
The Ministry of defence took Sh2.2 billion as hospital funding. CoB also approved Sh125 million as support for multi-agency security teams by the State Department for Interior and Citizen Services.
State Department for crop development and agriculture research was given Sh500 million for maintenance support at Nzoia Sugar Company while Sh4 billion went to fund the highly politicised maize subsidy.
The maize subsidy, which ended officially on August 18 after running for one month, was estimated by the previous regime to be about Sh8 billion, having paid the first half of the subsidy money in July.
“The Controller of Budget has made it clear she never supported that budget. The explanations given afterwards were inadequate. Some of these issues are what we must consider as we make this supplementary budget,” said the committee chairperson Ndindi Nyoro.
Funding requests
The Sh22.43 billion transacted in those two days was part of Sh69.45 billion supplementary funding requests made by the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) cumulatively, leaving Sh25.45 billion as unfunded requisitions as the exchequer battled cash constraints.
The other requests, mainly initiated by the Kenya Kwanza administration, were made after the general election between September and December 2022 period.
During this period, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining, the department for cooperatives, and the Ministry of Infrastructure received the highest amount of supplementary funding under article 223 at Sh25.6 billion, Sh10 billion, and Sh9.45 billion, respectively.
