The government has defended a policy to raise charges on government services arguing it was meant to ease the burden on taxpayers in funding operations of key State departments and agencies.
The National Treasury says the imposition of higher charges, levies, and fees on government services such as the issuance of identification documents will help generate additional revenue to support the operations of offices offering these services.
During the public hearings for the budget for the upcoming financial year starting in July, some speakers warned that an aggressive focus on growing non-tax revenue through increased charges could potentially affect access to public services.
“The government is exploring non-tax revenue measures to reduce MDAs' [ministries, departments, and agencies] dependence on exchequer revenue, ensuring that MDAs' Appropriation-in-Aid is sufficient to cover their expenditures without relying on the exchequer,” the Treasury said in the 2025 Budget Policy Statement earlier in the month, responding to complaints raised during public fora late last November.
It adds: “The Government will ensure that proposed charges, levies, and fees are reasonable, avoiding undue burden on Kenyans and maintaining effective service delivery.”
Lawmakers last December shot down a move by the Interior Ministry to raise the charges for acquiring or replacing documents such as Identity Cards as well as birth and death certificates, partly citing lack of sufficient public participation in the drafting of the regulations.
The rejected Registration of Persons (Amendment) rules sought to slap a fee of Sh300 for the application of a new ID, while the charges for registration, re-registration of births, and correcting a birth or death entry were to attract Sh1,000.
The State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services has become a key target area for growing non-tax revenues given the importance of documentation agencies under its process.
These include ID cards, passports, birth and death certificates as well as work permits for foreigners.
For the current financial year ending in June, the department has been allowed to retain Sh3.9 billion of its A-i-As, which the Treasury projected to be a fifth of projected collections.
Ministerial A-i-A are revenues collected by various Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) when discharging services and are spent at source on approval from the Treasury and appropriation by lawmakers.
“It is important to note that the A.i.A allocation to MDAs is not pegged on percentage collection, but on assessed needs of the MDA,” the Treasury wrote in the BPS.
Receipts from non-tax revenue streams have more than doubled largely on increased digitalisation of government payments and President William Ruto’s firm directive to parastatal chiefs to surrender surplus cash in their accounts.
For instance, the non-tax receipts amounted to Sh86.11 billion in the first half-year period ended December 2024, a jump of 122.68 percent over Sh38.67 billion a year earlier.
The Budget and Appropriations Committee of the National Assembly last July raised eyebrows over a growing trend where State agencies underestimate the A-i-A revenue estimates before the start of the financial year, only to raise the target in the year.
“The Committee noted with concern that Appropriations-in-aid comprises a substantial component of financing for the national government amounting to approximately Sh400 billion in the proposed budget for the financial year 2024/25,” the Committee wrote in the report.
“However, agencies with a mandate to collect the A-i-A have continued to underestimate their A-i-A targets during budget approval only to seek an upward review during supplementary estimates. This continues to reduce accountability and prudence in the use of AIA which is a form of revenue collected from taxpayers.”
