Under-funding hits Uhuru’s Big Four project

President Uhuru Kenyatta. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By EDWIN MUTAI

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Summary

• The Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) says there is no indication that the Big Four funding is on course.

Parliament has hit out at the Treasury for failure to allocate funds towards the implementation of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda in the financial year starting July.

The Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) says there is no indication that the Big Four funding is on course.

The committee said key sectors aligned to the agenda do not have sufficient budgetary allocation to implement projects. President Uhuru Kenyatta announced late last year that he will focus on health, agriculture, manufacturing and food security as growth stimulants during his second and final term in office.

“To illustrate, according to the expenditure projections of the health sector an estimated Sh300 billion is required over the next five years to achieve universal health coverage,” BAC said. The committee said that from the analysis of budget expenditures, it is evident that the money has not been provided for over the medium term.

“As was pointed out by departmental committees... the Big Four agenda has not been provided with adequate resources,” Kimani Ichung’wa (above), who chairs BAC, said in a report on the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) and the Debt Management Strategy for 2018/19.

READ: Japan’s industrialisation plans for Kenya aligned to Big Four agenda

BAC said agriculture and health are devolved functions, which means that key initiatives under these sectors are likely to be implemented by county governments.

“The committee observed that the BPS has not clearly articulated the extent of roles to be played by each level of government.

“The committee proposes therefore that the masterplan on the Big Four agenda should include collaboration between both levels of government with clear indications on roles of each level of government and the manner in which resources will be allocated,” BAC said.

Mr Ichung’wa said that from the committee’s analysis of budget expenditure for the coming financial year, focus appears to be mostly on targets and outputs with no clear strategy on how the economy will get there and how the extra capacity will be created or expanded.