William Ruto warns against supplementary budgets

Deputy President William Ruto has said the government will not allow presentation of unnecessary supplementary budgets from different ministry departments to Parliament in the 2018/19 financial year.

He directed all ministries to prepare their budgets sufficiently according to the available resources to avoid demanding additional funds once the government has rolled out its development projects. “We don’t expect any member of the executive to introduce unnecessary expenditure once the budget is presented and approved by Parliament. We do not want unnecessary conflict between the executive and the legislature over budgetary issues,” Mr Ruto said.

Speaking on Wednesday at Kenyatta International Convention Centre during the opening  of public hearings for the 2018/19 Financial Year Medium-Term budget, the DP urged all government institutions to align their budgets with the Jubilee Big Four agenda.

A supplementary budget is a request to Parliament for additional spending of public funds after the budget has been passed.

SPEND MONEY

Article 223 on the supplementary appropriation states that the government may spend money that has not been approved by Parliament if the amount already authorised is insufficient or if the money comes from the contingency fund.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said the government will reduce expenditure on non-core activities in order to fund key priority areas.

Mr Rotich said the government has adopted a raft of measures to fund its key policy while safeguarding a sustainable debt position.

Among the raft of measures to shore up revenues include expansion of the tax base to informal sector, lotteries, overhaul of the Income Tax Act to remove most of the tax exemptions, rolling out of integrated customs management systems to prevent concealment, undervaluation, mis-declarations and falsifications of import documents. Others include implementation of the regional electronic cargo tracking to tame transit diversion, scaling up ongoing and routine activities such as pre-verification of conformity, benchmarking and auctions.

DATA MATCHING

He said other measures included data matching and use of third party data to enhance compliance by integration of iTax with Ifmis, expansion of tax base by targeting informal sector, betting lotteries and gaming, pursue non-filers as well as enhance investigations, intelligence capacity and KRA capacity to support revenue collection.  

“We are all aware that implementation of the Big Four plan requires huge capital outlay. To ensure we create fiscal space to raise the required resources, we shall undertake a raft of expenditure reform measures,” said Mr Rotich. The DP encouraged the public to actively participate in the budget making process as it allows accountability, openness and an opportunity to the people to interrogate and give input on how government utilises their taxes.

Kenyans have until the end of Thursday to give comments on the budget statement before it is tabled in the National Assembly and the Senate.

INVESTMENT

The DP said the government will in the 2018/19 budget increase investment in manufacturing, housing,  healthcare and food security to attain sustainable, inclusive growth. He said all ministries and departments must prioritise and allocate adequate resources to the Jubilee’s Big Four agenda as the government is committed to spur economic development through the four key pillars.

“We must align all our developments goals with the resources available as we do not expect wastage of public funds with little development to show,” he said.

Mr Ruto also warned public officers against misuse of public resources, saying every shilling must be accounted for.

Budget and Appropriation Committee chair Kimani Ichung’wa also said Parliament will not provide additional resources to government agencies.