Approval of budget tops the agenda as House reconvenes
A past session at the National Assembly in Nairobi. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Treasury secretary Henry Rotich plans to read the budget in April, two months earlier than the tradition in June.
The House is expected to dissolve two months to the General Election.
MPs reconvene this afternoon for the fifth and final session of the 11th Parliament, with the approval of the 2017/18 budget ahead of the August General Election top on the agenda.
Treasury secretary Henry Rotich plans to read the budget in April, two months earlier than the tradition in June.
It will be the first time in recent times that Kenya will be presenting its budget on a date different from its East African Community (EAC) member states.
Usually, budgets of all East African member states are read on the same day.
The House is expected to dissolve two months to the General Election. The first agenda is the approval of the House calendar for the remaining seven months.
The House Business Committee (HBC), the top decision making organ of the National Assembly, will meet this afternoon to prepare the calendar of activities for the House for the week.
The committee is expected to give priority to budget related business including the passage of the Division of Revenue Bill, 2017, the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, the Appropriations Bill, and the Finance Bill. The Division of Revenue Bill provides for the equitable division of revenue raised among the national and county governments.
In the coming financial year, the Bill has allocated the 47 county governments a total of Sh323.8 billion while the national government will retain Sh1.2 trillion to finance operations to the end of June 2018.
The County Allocation of Revenue Bill shares Sh303.3 billion equitably among the 47 county governments.
The Bill also apportions another Sh20.4 billion conditional allocation that is not part of the shareable revenue.
The Finance Bill, 2017 formulates the proposals that would be announced in the budget speech for 2017/2018 relating to liability to, and collection of taxes.
The Appropriations Bill authorize the issue of a sum of money out of the Consolidated Fund and its application towards the service of the year ending June 30, 2018 and to appropriate that sum and a sum voted on account by the National Assembly for certain public services.
The MPs will also be faced with strict deadlines in passing a number of Bills that have already been published among them the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2017 which seeks to entrench the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), establish the Parliamentary Oversight Fund and the National Government Affirmative Action Fund.
The Bill sponsored by Bumula MP Boniface Otsiula seeks to provide financial facilitation to the 67 Senators and 349 members of the National Assembly to enable them exercise oversight over national revenue and its expenditure at county and constituency levels respectively.
