Hard truths. Bold Insights. Real talk.
The National Assembly Committee on Constitutional Implementation Oversight says the current legal framework has left a large amount of public money outside the direct reach of the Controller of Budget, with 75 funds and levies at the national level and several others at the county level operating as potential blind spots.
The Health CS referred to Article 228 of the Constitution and the Controller of Budget Act, 2016, saying they clearly define the responsibilities of the Controller of Budget.
Margaret Nyakang’o said agencies do not automatically qualify for funding simply because they claim they need money outside their approved allocations.
Tax collections remained the backbone of State revenue, contributing Sh1.72 trillion, or about 54 percent of total inflows. This also reflected an increase of Sh138.2 billion from the previous year.
According to the Public Finance Management Act 2012, government borrowing should be focused on development, while short-term loans like overdrafts are meant to manage cash flows. As of September, Kenya’s public debt stood at Sh12.05 trillion, with domestic borrowing accounting for more than half of the total.
At the same time, the Judiciary revealed it is struggling with a backlog of 257,000 pending cases, a situation made worse by budget constraints that have limited recruitment and technological expansion.