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{
    "id": 1456669,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1456669/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 4059,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ol Jorok, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Michael Muchira",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "The National Treasury brought a budget cut of Ksh146 billion. However, we all know that the miscarriage of the Finance Bill 2024 created a budget hole of Ksh344 billion. As the Budget and Appropriations Committee, we were also tasked to do further cuts so as to reduce the budget deficit. This process involved a lot of delicate balancing because in some instances, the National Treasury had cut to the bone where we were unable to even cut further, but we were able to do some balancing here and there. We had a situation where some Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies (SAGAs) had zero allocation, that they did not have money even for personnel emoluments. That is what I mean when I say that they had cut to the bone. Through consultation with various Departmental Committees, we were able to do the balancing act such that we did not leave any organisation stifled. We were very careful not to leave any SAGA in a position where it cannot operate. Hon. Temporary Speaker, it is also important to note that everybody suffered the cut. The two levels of Government suffered the cut. The county governments also suffered the Ksh20 billion cut. After this process, the Committee will be re-introducing the Division of Revenue Bill to reflect the cuts. The national Government also suffered the cuts. All the arms of Government, including the Judiciary, Parliament and the Executive, suffered the cuts. All the sectors suffered the cuts. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I would also want to say that there were some cuts in public participation projects, but the Budget and Appropriations Committee is alive to the fact that public participation is a constitutional requirement. Secondly, we cannot conduct public participation in vain and you cannot undo the public participation projects. The only way to undo public participation projects is going back to the same place you undertook the public participation and the stakeholders to undo the projects. The Committee was able to consult with the National Treasury and reinstated the public participation projects. Hon. Temporary Speaker, in this Supplementary Budget, there is no money allocated for refurbishment. There is no money allocated for any salary increment for public officers and state officers. There is no money included for recruitment, save for Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers. There was a proposal to recruit police officers, but after consultation with the respective Departmental Committee and the National Treasury, we resolved that the money be reallocated towards implementing the recommendation of the National Task Force on Police Reforms, especially improving the welfare of the police officers. It is important to say that the Budget cuts do not mean that some projects will not be implemented. What we are saying is that we just delay the implementation, maybe, for a year or two, until we enhance our revenue collection. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I would want to state one of the recommendations which arose out of the observations by the Committee. There are some SAGAs in this country which collect Appropriations-in-Aid (A-i-A), but do not submit it to the National Treasury to contribute to the national kitty. The SAGAs include Kenya Railways, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC). They are swimming in money. They collect a lot of money as A-i-A, and this money is budgeted at the Board level. It never comes to Parliament for budgeting. As we are introducing these austerity measures, we are not able to scrutinise and budget for them. We have recommended some changes in the legal framework for those SAGAs to submit the extra money to the National kitty for budgeting. For example, I read in the newspapers yesterday that the Kenya Railways is introducing an executive couch where one is required to pay Ksh12,000 from Nairobi The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}