PM’s office to cost Sh700m

The Government is set to spend a staggering Sh700 million to buy a building that will house the Office of the Prime Minister.

The revelation was among a raft of expenditures that were spelt out by acting Finance Minister John Michuki as he moved the Appropriations Bill in the House on Wednesday.

As he assured MPs of the strict discipline which the Government will employ in utilising the funds, Mr Michuki hinted that unforeseen risks and challenges were likely to affect the planned expenditure.

Economic prudence

“There are risks and challenges that may emerge and threaten to derail the planned expenditure of the estimates.

“However, we hope that financial discipline and economic prudence will sustain macro-economic stability and work towards poverty reduction,” he said.

Ministries that may require additional funds outside the Budget will be served through the Supplementary Budget that will be moved next year in March.

“Ministries that will ask for more funds to finance emergencies will do so through the Supplementary Budget,” he said.

Ending the search for an office for Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Mr Michuki said the Sh700 million will be allocated to the Ministry of Housing to buy Shell BP House from the oil firm.

“Sh700 million has been allocated to the ministry of Housing to purchase Shell BP House that will host the office of the Prime Minister,” he said.

Currently, Mr Odinga’s offices are housed at the Treasury.

Mr Michuki also outlined plans to deal with the escalating food crisis in the country by allocating funds to the ministries of Special Programmes and Agriculture.

The minister said Sh3.4 billion will go to the Special Programmes ministry for strategic grain reserves while Sh750 million will be handed to the humanitarian fund for the displaced people.

Agriculture ministry was allocated Sh150 million to cushion the country’s food security reserves under the programme “Njaa Mingi.”

The allocations of Sh3.55 billion to the two ministries came a day after it emerged that only 1.2 million bags of maize were left as strategic reserves.

Mr Michuki also said Sh414 million will go to school feeding programmes in arid and semi-arid areas.

The Appropriations Bill, also called the Supply Bill, marks the end of Parliament’s budget process authorisation for the Government to spend the money as stipulated in the Budget.

Mr Michuki also doled Sh1.1 billion to settle pending Bills that arose from unpaid contracts that were issued by the Ministry of Roads before 2003.

He, however, urged the Ministry of Public Works and that of Roads to expedite expenditures allocated for improving infrastructure.

Internal Security ministry will spend Sh1.866 billion on recruitment of police officers, while Sh1.279 billion was allocated for buying vehicles.

In a similar manner, he said salary adjustments and risk allowances for prison warders got Sh2.8 billion; Sh551 million for their housing scheme and Sh1.22 billion for specialised materials.

Opt to retire early

Some Sh220 million has been set aside for civil servants who will opt to retire early while salary increments for civil servants in Job Group D to L will take Sh3 billion.

Seconding the motion, Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula argued that Kenya was a service economy and urged the Treasury to ensure strict financial discipline was followed.

Mr Ethuro questioned the decision by the Treasury to set aside Sh2 billion for emergencies. “What will Sh2 billion do for the entire North Eastern Kenya?” he asked.

Nambale MP Chris Okemo who chairs the parliamentary committee on Finance and Trade said that lawmakers should scrutinise most of the votes for ministries to ensure the allocations were for proper purposes.

The Bill sailed through the second reading and is awaiting scrutiny by MPs as it goes to the Third Stage.

The expenditures were based on the Sh761.7 billion Budget that was read in June by former Finance minister Amos Kimunya.