Don't mess up Kenya as you chase votes, Henry Rotich tells MPs

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich ended his last presentation of the Budget under the first term of the Jubilee coalition with a small appeal to MPs: please do not mess up the country as you seek election. 

The usually serious Treasury boss relaxed a little towards the end of a statement punctuated by applause at taxation measures to ease the burden on the poor and increase it on betting firms.

WORRIES

There was surprise and laughter when he said: “Allow me once again to thank all members of Parliament for your support in facilitating legislative proposals in supporting our economic transformation agenda over the last four years.

"As you go back to the electorate, I wish you well. My only appeal is that the campaign period will be peaceful to ensure that we do not reverse the economic gains we have achieved so far.”

His appeal underlined the worries the Treasury has in the coming financial year: that political activity will hurt the economy and that drought and its accompanying high inflation rates and food prices will continue.

There was a tinge of the old way the Budget Statement used to be read in the manner Mr Rotich went about things: dwelling long, very long, on allocations yet the Budget estimates have already been dealt with by MPs.

SEATS EMPTY

He also made it sound like it is the Treasury, and not Parliament, that is central in the budget process by continuously saying, “I have allocated...”

Some MPs also detected a tinge of the State of the Nation address by the President a fortnight ago.

“Either he stole the President’s speech or the President stole his,” said Jared Kopiyo (Awendo, Cord).

A technical hitch in the early stages of the statement had those monitoring the proceedings on television virtually in the dark about what was going on, but the feed on radio was unbroken.

But on his last presentation of the Budget before the election, the Treasury boss spoke to a House in which the majority of the seats were empty.

MPs are busier now seeking re-election than paying attention to matters in Parliament, which has been evident since the start of the last session late January.

QUORUM

“People are campaigning. We have primaries starting next week,” said Majority Leader Aden Duale.

Mr Duale said given the problems the House has had this year with getting a quorum, with every start of a sitting requiring the ringing of the quorum bell to get at least 50 MPs in the House, having 150 at the beginning was a big achievement.

Suba MP John Mbadi, who has also been paying more attention to the campaign, said: “Right now we hardly have quorum in Parliament. It’s because of the political heat. In ODM we have the nominations just next week.”

But the absence of the MPs did not limit the fanfare, with the corridors and the Speaker’s Walk decorated with flowers.

There was also a garden party, with a choir in attendance, where Mr Rotich took time to interact with the MPs and have some refreshments.