Poor funding strikes Uhuru's Big Four agenda - MPs

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich addresses journalists outside Parliament on March 30, 2017, before presenting the 2017/2018 budget statement. There are no sufficient funds to implement President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The MPs were also concerned that there is no indication that the government has mapped out the funding requirements for the Big Four.
  • The Treasury said that because of the government’s limited finances, a lot of the projects would be done in collaboration with the private sector.

The Treasury has not provided adequate funds for the achievement of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda, MPs who have been scrutinising the Executive’s planned budget for the coming financial year have said.

Members of the Budget and Appropriation Committee have also pointed out that the Big Four agenda is not well-articulated in the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) and the focus appears to be on targets and outputs without a clear strategy on how the economy will get there.

“The committee is concerned that the implementation framework of the Big Four agenda is not well articulated.

"There appears to be a disconnect between the Budget Policy Statement and the introduction of the Big Four agenda as the BPS has not indicated any radical shift in its expenditure plans to reflect a clear plan of action towards achieving the Big Four plan,” the committee said in a report tabled in the National Assembly on Tuesday afternoon and made available on Wednesday.

IMPLEMENTATION
The MPs were also concerned that there is no indication that the government has mapped out the funding requirements for the Big Four as well as the implementation over the next four years.

The report of the Budget and Appropriation Committee offers the first real analysis of the implementation of the plan announced by President Kenyatta in his inauguration in November last year.

The Big Four are: Increasing the manufacturing sector’s share of Gross Domestic Product to 15 per cent by 2022, enhancing food security, providing universal healthcare to all Kenyans and affordable and decent housing to all Kenyans in the form of at least 500,000 affordable new houses by 2022.

President Kenyatta intends to make the implementation of the Big Four agenda his legacy as he leaves office in the same way his predecessor Mwai Kibaki started off massive investments in infrastructure, albeit using China-funded loans.

FUNDS ALLOCATION
Facing the reality, though, the Budget and Appropriations Committee concluded that the Treasury appears to have been caught offside in the preparation of the budget plan as seen in the BPS.

“It appears that the BPS was completed without creating the necessary space for the Big Four agenda.

"As such, there are serious concerns on how the Big Four plan will be implemented. This is a whole transformation agenda for five years, which will require an implementation structure,” the committee said.

The statement does not contain significant increases in the funds to be allocated to the ministries under which the four programmes fall.

The Health ministry has been allocated Sh70 billion against Sh54 billion in the current financial year, the Housing Department Sh19.1 billion against Sh15.7 billion in the current financial year, the Irrigation Department Sh15.6 billion compared to Sh15.7 billion in the current year and Industry Sh10.2 billion compared to Sh 7.3 billion in the current year.

NHIF
In the BPS, the Treasury said the plans for the Big Four would start with projects such as the Special Economic Zones to be located in either Dongo Kundu or Naivasha as well as the completion of the Machakos Leather Park.

On health, the Treasury indicated the focus would be on reconfiguring the National Hospital Insurance Fund and reforming the governance of private insurers, culminating in an increase in NHIF’s enrolment from 16.5 million to 25.74 million.

To do this, the Treasury said the government would use the 37,000 banking sector agents, four banks, three mobile phone companies and 100,000 community health workers to recruit 20 households each.

PARTNERSHIPS
The Treasury said that because of the government’s limited finances, a lot of the projects would be done in collaboration with the private sector.

This would be done with the creation of a High Speed Public-Private Partnership Unit to attract and engage the private sector on implementation of most of the projects.

Part of the headache, it seems, is that three of the four plans are functions of the county governments.

The committee said that according to expenditure projections of the health sector, an estimated Sh300 billion is needed over the next five years to finance Universal Health Coverage.

It was evident from its analysis that this provision has not been made over the next four years, the committee said, but noted that with the bulk of health and agriculture functions devolved, key initiatives under the two would be implemented by the county governments.