Kenya is doing well to increase its military expenditure given the global security challenges it faces. It is deeply involved in the war in Somalia and has to fight a variety of enemies, including pirates and occasionally has to send troops on foreign missions as part of United Nations peace keepings.
It is a fact that Kenya has for a long time punched below its weight in Africa when it comes to military spending despite being among the largest economies on the continent in terms of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Now at position eight in Africa in such spending, it has taken its rightful place in the pecking order — in an effort to boost and maintain the strength of its armed forces.
But the country faces a big challenge when it comes to spending the money. Top of the long list of challenges the country faces when it comes to military expenditure — including the intelligence service spending — has to do with lack of transparency in procurement.
Despite having one of the world’s most liberal Constitutions with transparency as a key pillar, many aspects of government operations remain shrouded in secrecy.
The public or the taxpayer is entitled to ask hard questions when any unit of government is allocated large amounts of money whose spending is completely shielded from public scrutiny.
With the Sh96 billion budget as disclosed by the global security think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) there is every reason to increase transparency in such spending.
There is, for instance, no reason Kenyans only learn about procurement of military machinery and equipment from global research bodies rather than from the government.
Only recently Kenyans learnt that the government was planning to procure military aircraft worth Sh43 billion from the US, information that came from the US, not Kenyan, authorities.
The secrecy surrounding these deals makes it near impossible to tell whether Kenya could have got better pricing.
Parliament should not wait for foreign leaders or institutions to speak on the details of our military expenditures, but do it striking the right balance with national security.
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