CS Yatani rubbishes claims that Uhuru left behind Ksh93M only
Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ukur Yatani has rubbished ongoing claims that the previous government only left Ksh93 million.
Addressing Senators during an induction retreat in Naivasha, Nakuru County, on Thursday, September 22, 2022, Yatani castigated the lawmakers for spreading misinformation without information on the National treasury's operations.
“Sometimes we as leaders argue out of ignorance. Immediately after the election, some leaders were saying the Treasury did not have money, it was Ksh.92 million that was found. I feel very sympathetic because there is a lot of ignorance about the situation,” Yatani stated.
He added: “Government does not collect money, store it in one place and then distribute it after one month or year, we raise revenue on a daily basis and fund the government on a daily basis.”
While asking the Senators to self-evaluate themselves, Yatani also urged the legislators to put focus on and strengthen their county revenue collection mechanisms so as not to over-rely on the treasury allocations.
He pointed out that most counties across the county are struggling to fund themselves yet they(the counties)have the full capacity to raise their own revenue.
“If you look at the county and municipal councils of old times, they collected more revenue than the current one and yet they are smaller organisations but the county government, fully equipped with all the professionals and infrastructure, cannot raise revenue of their own. That is the basis of where we need to interrogate ourselves,” he stated.
“There are many counties that are really struggling. They have accumulated huge pending bills even more than a share of one year and it is the duty of the Senate to enforce a certain level of discipline by working with the Treasury,” he reiterated.
Cherargei's claim
Yatani's sentiments come after a section of leaders such as Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei raised concern that the national treasury only had Ksh93million left.
While asking Kenyans to be patient with President William Ruto the senator claimed that the Commander-in-Chief only found Ksh93.7 million in the treasury.
He pointed out that the economy was hanging by a thread after Ruto's predecessor President Uhuru Kenyatta left home with everything.
"The economy is no longer in ICU But Death because H.E Ruto found only Sh93.7M at the treasury, Uhuru went home with everything. State Capture is REAL!,
"The country is broke Kenyans be patient H.E Ruto shall fix this through economic transformation and Prayers from all of us. Amen." he wrote.
His remarks came after a section of Kenyans expressed disappointment over the rise in the cost of living.
The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority-EPRA on Tuesday, September 14, 2022, announced new fuel prices.
"In accordance with Section 101(y) of the Petroleum Act 2019, EPRA has calculated the maximum wholesale and retail prices of petroleum products, which will be in force from September 15, 2021, to October 14, 2021. Super Petrol, Diesel and Kerosene will now retail at Kshs. 134.72, Kshs. 115.60 and Kshs. 110.82 per litre respectively in Nairobi starting today at midnight,” EPRA wrote on Facebook.
Quarters decried that the latest prices were causing discomfort as they were forced to dig deeper into their already tattered pockets.
The new prices were witnessed after the government scraped out fuel subsidies on grounds that it was unsustainable.
"In fuel subsidy alone, the taxpayers have spent a total of Ksh144billion, a whooping Ksh60billion was used in the last 4 months," Ruto stated during his inauguration.
