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545 projects hit by Rotich budget cuts

thugge

Kamau Thugge the Treasury Principal Secretary. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Projects valued at about Sh293.4 billion have stalled across the country as a result of National Treasury budget cuts, new data submitted to Parliament shows.

The statistics compiled by the Treasury indicate that 545 projects whose total budget was Sh365.9 billion had stalled as at June 2018.

The Henry Rotich led-Treasury has so far spent Sh72.5 billion to fund the projects leaving a deficit of Sh293.4 billion.

The Treasury was to provide Sh286.9 billion with donors contributing Sh78.9 billion towards the projects.

The Treasury told Parliament that it had instructed the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to prioritise viable projects for implementation in a phased out manner.

“In view of the foregoing, and in light of the prevailing constrained fiscal space in the medium-term, MDAs are expected to rationalise,” Kamau Thugge the Treasury Principal Secretary, said in a report to the House.

Transport ministry tops the list of government institutions with the highest number of stalled with 10 of the stalled Sh79 billion projects. As at June 2018 only Sh13.1 billion had been spent.

The bulk of the money- Sh60.4 billion- was earmarked for the construction of the abandoned Greenfield Terminal at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

The data shows that Sh4.3 billion was spent on Greenfield Terminal as at June 2018.

Three regional authorities-Coast, Ewaso Ngiro and Kerio Valley-have Sh57 billion stalled projects.

The Sports ministry has had to put its Sh39.9 billion projects on ice as well as the Crop development department which has abandoned Sh37 billion projects.

Others are Crime Data repository Unit (Sh27bn), Trade ministry (Sh10bn), National Treasury (Sh8.4bn), Water and Sanitation (Sh5.4bn) Public Works (Sh4.7 bn), Irrigation (Sh4bn), Social Protection (Sh3.7bn), Livestock (Sh3.1bn), Housing (Sh2.9bn), Lands (Sh2.5bn) and Environment (Sh2.3bn).

The Presidency, State department of Immigration, Devolution, Arid and Semi-Arid Lands, Defence, Foreign Affairs, Planning, Health, Infrastructure, ICT, Heritage, Agriculture, Industrialisation, Mining, Petroleum, Tourism, Public Service, Gender, EAC, Northern Corridor and Broadcasting have no stalled projects.