Security docket benefits from Rotich’s Sh57bn mini budget
Treasury secretary Henry Rotich. Request for additional cash in the first half of the financial year is rare. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
The bulk of the cash is meant for the security docket as President Uhuru Kenyatta faces mounting pressure to secure the country from terrorist attacks that have battered the tourism industry.
The KDF will be allocated Sh3 billion for undisclosed security operations while the National Police Service stands to get Sh5.6 billion for operations, training and equipment supply.
The mini budget was tabled in Parliament by Leader of Majority Aden Duale during a Special Session last Thursday.
The Treasury is asking Parliament to approve an additional Sh57 billion in a mini budget that has come six months into the current financial year.
The request for additional cash in the first half is rare and the bulk of the cash is meant for the security docket as President Uhuru Kenyatta faces mounting pressure to secure the country from terrorist attacks that have battered the tourism industry.
Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) will be allocated Sh3 billion for undisclosed security operations while the National Police Service stands to get Sh5.6 billion for operations, training and equipment supply.
The Treasury is also seeking Sh4.99 billion to participate in the planned National Bank rights issue, Sh1.1 billion to resettle squatters, Sh953 billion for lighting up Nairobi streets and Sh1.2 billion for paying trainee doctors.
Another big-ticket spending is settlement of Sh2.85 billion, which the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) owes suppliers, expansion of Huduma Centre outside Nairobi (Sh1.5 billion) and parliamentary spending worth Sh3.44 billion.
Top State officials including MPs, judges and Cabinet secretaries will see their mortgage fund increase by Sh1 billion. They are entitled to a home’s loan of Sh20 million with an annual interest rate of three per cent.
The mini budget was tabled in Parliament by Leader of Majority Aden Duale during a Special Session last Thursday.
The request for additional cash comes at a time when Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has fallen short of the tax collection target by Sh11.1 billion for the quarter to September.
It remains to be seen if the Treasury will present another mini-budget given that Kenya’s finance chiefs have traditionally sought additional cash at the end of quarter three in March.
Renewed focus on safety
Last year, for the second time in Kenya’s history, the Treasury presented two supplementary budgets in a single financial year, prompting Parliament to warn that the trend was undermining the credibility of the national Budget.
The security docket will account for more than 15 per cent of the Sh57 billion in a year that has seen Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich allocate billions to the police service and KDF, reflecting renewed focus on safety.
Kenya sent its troops into neighbouring Somalia in 2011 after several attacks inside its territory that it blamed on Al-Shabaab and later joined the African Union peacekeeping force.
Al-Shabaab terrorists killed 67 people at Westgate Shopping Mall in September last year. The group killed more than 60 people in two attacks this month in Mandera.
President Kenyatta signed a new anti-terrorism Bill into law last Friday, triggering fresh protests from opposition MPs who said they would take legal action to overturn the legislation and protect civil liberties.
The opposition Cord and activists have said the measures, which will allow suspects to be held without being charged for up to 360 days, up from 90 days, threaten liberties and free speech.
The law also lays out punishments for media organisations which print material “likely to cause fear or alarm”, without defining such material.
It also compels landlords and hotels to provide security officers with information about their tenants and guests.
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