By Pauline Njoroge- Political activist in Kenya
Government is a continuum service entity, and that is why even as tallying goes on at Bomas, KRA does not stop collecting taxes waiting for a new president to be sworn in. If you go to a government hospital on election Day, you won’t be told that operations have halted till a new government is in place. Same as security services. Police officers don’t go on a break because the term of a certain president is coming to an end. Public servants also continue drawing salaries amidst a transition.
In the same breath, government projects cannot stop because an election is coming up. Therefore allocation of resources to those projects cannot be halted because an election is coming up. Or is there such a law and I missed it? If it exists, what does it say? When should an outgoing government stop allocating resources to ongoing projects? 6 months to elections, 12 months to elections… when?
I have been seeing some people happily share photos of Ruto launching projects that were initiated during Uhuru’s administration and resources allocated during Uhuru’s administration. If Uhuru stopped the allocation because an election was coming up, what would Ruto be launching? How for example would the ongoing roads, hospital and affordable housing projects initiated under Uhuru be completed?
Now, let us make something else very clear. The The National Treasury has legal authority to seek and use funds prior to approval by Parliament and seek for such approvals within two months. This is expressed in article 223 of the Constitution. All regimes under the new Constitution have done so and even Ruto himself is doing so currently and will do so again and again.
UDA charlatans led by Gachagua are claiming that ksh 16 billion released a few days to elections was stolen, and there is a sensational story that they are circulating about how the Controller of Budget was under duress to approve some 15 billion. But this shows that the charlatans have very little information, and this ignorance is leading their obsession about 15 billion. The money was more than that and according to the attached documents, the purpose for that money was very well outlined.
The tabulation is as follows????????
Roads Lamu, Ijaara Garissa Road, Nairobi Eastern bypass and Makupa bridge This was amounting to ksh. 9.45b
The second item is maize subsidy at ksh. 4b which was given to millers to lower the cost of unga.
The third item was level 5 forces hospital (Kanyonyo and Mbagathi) which Ruto launched last week at ksh. 2.2b
The revival of Nzoia Sugar company at ksh. 500m which was made public in a meeting in Western Kenya.
Telkom Kenya allocation on a buyout program as a way to retain more shareholding by the government.l at ksh. 6.091b
Office operations for the OP at ksh 810m which is obvious for the office of any sitting president… Ruto is still using the cash to enjoy very expensive tea.
Security operations at ksh. 125m
Secondary education quality improvement project at ksh. 4.121 billion
Fuel subsidy at ksh. 16.597b which was to cushion Kenyans from the effects of the war in Ukraine.
NMS payment of pending bills at ksh. 411million.
The total therefore is ksh. 44.305 billion.
Now, as you can see from the attached document, the ksh 16 billion to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining that Rigathi has been singing about was approved on 31st August 2022. BUT IT WAS RELEASED ON 16TH SEPTEMBER 2022.
Meanwhile, hearing some fellows claim that these billions were carried in a chopper is laughable. These are people who have no sense of measurement or can’t fathom the weight and space that amount of cash would occupy. And by the way, where are they saying the money was dispensed? Which bank and how was it carried out of the bank into the chopper?
Lastly, incase you have never worked in a government office you might not know this. But there is always pressure when it comes requisition and allocation of funds and the finance departments are always dealing with this. Therefore, to say that the controller of budget was under duress to approve payments is nothing short of sensationalism. For such an office that has to fulfill the government’s regular payments approvals, it is expected that those working there will constantly feel the pressure that comes with the job.
And isn’t the current regime already putting the controller of budget under duress with their demand for more money to facilitate tea in State House?
