House may disband ‘disobedient’ budget committee

What you need to know:

  • Many members felt the committee had failed in its duty after sticking to the Treasury proposals and ignoring the committee’s suggestions.

The National Assembly’s committee tasked with Budget preparation is facing threats of disbandment after failing to consider proposals by various House teams for the next financial year.

The Budget and Appropriations Committee is fighting for its life after MPs threatened to do away with it following a fallout over their final report on the 2016/17 Budget Estimates tabled in the House on Tuesday.

The row reached a peak last week when the committee, chaired by Mbeere South MP Mutava Musyimi, tabled estimates for the House’s approval before Budget Day in June.

The committee faced the wrath of members when it emerged that several proposals they made for the next financial year had not been considered despite their spending time meeting government officials for briefs on their financial needs.

TREASURY PROPOSALS

Many members felt the committee had failed in its duty after sticking to the Treasury proposals and ignoring the committee’s suggestions.

The committee is facing a storm for singing the Treasury’s tune, and not the House’s.

What infuriated them most was the move by the Musyimi team to retain the Sh922 million demanded by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission instead of the Sh200 million they had proposed for the body.

The MPs have been after the neck of this commission after it reduced their salaries and more so for slashing their foreign per diems last December.

Justice and Legal Affairs Committee chairman Samuel Chepkonga summed up their anger thus:  “I am really upset. It is unfair for me and my members to sit for days and then our work is just dismissed without courtesy. We have spent lots of time talking to the ministries and commissions and then our recommendations are not considered. We cannot accept this.”

Admitting that the team may have made a mistake in ignoring members’ suggestions, Mr Musyimi said it was because of the short time they had to go through the proposals.

“It is possible we have made honest mistakes but there is still time in law to make changes before we make our final decision on the report. The timelines we have been given are tight. We acted in good faith,” said Mr Musyimi.