MPs slash national budget by Sh38bn

The National Assembly in a past session. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

The National Assembly has slashed Sh37.6 billion off the Sh3 trillion national budget.

The MPs reduced the budget during a heated debate on Thursday morning ahead of their deliberations on President Uhuru Kenyatta's memorandum relating to fuel and other new taxes.

Most hit include ICT ministry which lost Sh5.9 billion and the school laptop programmes whose allocation was reduced by Sh5.5 billion.

Others are: the last mile electricity project (Sh1.5 billion), emergency road repairs (Sh8.7 billion), Equalization Fund (Sh3.8 billion) and Sh600 million allocation for Parliament's new office block.

Among the winners is the Judiciary which has received an allocation of Sh1.5 billion.

The budgets of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, National Intelligence Service, Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and Judicial Service Commission have remained intact.