Current MPs likely to work on the Budget for 2013/14

The Budget for the fiscal year 2013/14 will be prepared and passed by the current parliament if the Court of Appeal upholds March 4, 2013 as the General Election date.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga said the Budget would be prepared and passed by December before its term expires on January 14, 2012.

If elections are held in March, the Budget-making cycle will be disrupted.

Normally, the Treasury is supposed to submit to Parliament the estimates two months before the reading of Budget Speech in June.

“We held consultations with various government agencies charged with implementing the Constitution yesterday morning and agreed they will make necessary preparations to ensure the Budget is ready by December,” he said.

Gap created

Mr Odinga said a gap would be created when the life of Parliament expires on January 14, 2013 given that the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) will not have prepared the budget for devolved units of government.

The 47 counties may not have sufficient funds to run its services and programmes.

Mr Odinga said the government has earmarked Sh50 billion to set up facilities for the devolved units.

Issuing a statement on the preparedness for devolution during Prime Ministers’ Time, Mr Odinga said the Sh3 billion set aside by Finance Minister Njeru Githae for devolution was only part of the funds needed to fully set up structures at the county level.

The Prime Minister told Parliament that all Bills that deal with devolution would be passed by December this year. He also assured all public servants, including members of the provincial administration of their jobs.

Mr Odinga said members of the Transitional Authority would be sworn in next week on Tuesday.

The Constitution provides that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) declare a two-month campaign period after the dissolution of Parliament.

Should there be a presidential poll run-off or a court contest, the country would be without a functional Parliament for another two months, meaning the earliest a new Parliament would be sworn in is at the end of May 2013 at the earliest.

In case of a run-off, the IEBC will have a month to hold a second round of elections.