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The Budget and Appropriations Committee, chaired by Hon. Ndindi Nyoro, has begun its review of the Supplementary Estimates 1 for the Financial Year 2024/25. Submissions were received from twelve Departmental Committees, with Chairpersons presenting their findings and recommendations based on their meetings with various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) earlier this week.
In his opening remarks, Hon. Nyoro acknowledged the country’s critical economic situation and urged Committee Chairs to prioritize funding for essential areas while rationalizing other expenditures.
The Supplementary Estimates propose a reduction of Ksh. 156.4 billion in Ministerial National Government expenditures. The primary driver of this decrease is a Ksh. 122.4 billion reduction in development expenditure for domestically financed projects. However, projects funded by development partner loans and grants totaling over Ksh. 240 billion have been retained.
Ministerial recurrent expenditure has been reduced by Ksh. 34 billion, ensuring that critical recurrent items such as free day secondary education, free primary education, and Junior Secondary Schools, totaling over Ksh. 100 billion, remain unaffected.
Conversely, Consolidated Fund Services (CFS) expenditures have increased by Ksh. 23.8 billion, while the County Equitable Share has been reduced by Ksh. 20 billion from Ksh. 400.1 billion to Ksh. 380.1 billion. Due to carryovers from FY 2023/24 amounting to Ksh. 30.8 billion, the Equitable Share to Counties in the FY 2024/25 Supplementary No. 1 stands at Ksh. 410.95 billion, Ksh. 10.8 billion above the 2024 approved Division of Revenue Act figure of Ksh. 400.1 billion.
Committee Proposals
- Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC): Chairperson Hon. George Murugara proposed a reduction of Ksh. 766 million in recurrent expenditure for the State Law Office, reallocating these funds to other programmes. JLAC suggested increasing the Judiciary’s budget by Ksh. 407 million to support the Ajira programme and allocate Ksh. 600 million for recruiting 1,500 prison officers.
- Defence, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations Committee: Chairperson Hon. Nelson Koech recommended cuts totaling Ksh. 3.48 billion in various MDAs and emphasized improving police officer facilitation for better service delivery.
- Internal Security and Administration Committee: Chairperson Hon. Gabriel Tongoyo highlighted potential challenges for MDAs facing allocation reductions. He proposed cutting Ksh. 100 million from the Office of the Deputy President Support Services and reallocating it to Policing Services.
Submissions were also received from the Chairpersons of Committees for Energy, Lands, Transport and Infrastructure, Labour, Regional Development, Sports, Culture and Arts, Agriculture and Livestock Development, Finance and National Planning, and Social Protection.
The Hon. Nyoro-led committee is set to receive submissions from the remaining eight Departmental Committees tomorrow, continuing its thorough review process to ensure that the country’s financial resources are allocated efficiently and effectively.
