Leader of the Majority Party, Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah, has urged the National Treasury to limit Supplementary Budgets to one per financial year.

According to Hon. Ichung’wah, the National Treasury should adhere to the limits set in the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) and revise the annual estimates only once.

He pointed out that revising the budget twice or thrice a year is not a good practice as it reflects poorly on our level of preparedness when creating budgets.

“This approach creates uncertainty for implementing agencies regarding whether they will have adequate resources to carry out all the programs budgeted for within a financial year, as they cannot be sure if the allocated funds are subject to review,” he said.

Hon. Ichung’wah was speaking on the Floor of the House on Thursday, June 6, 2024 during debate on the Budget Estimates for the financial year 2024/2025.

Acknowledging the challenges faced by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in raising revenues, Hon. Ichung’wah emphasized that it is crucial for the National Treasury and planners to act prudently, ensuring that projected revenues are as realistic and accurate as possible.

“We must also urge the KRA to improve their efforts to ensure we collect sufficient revenues and avoid frequent revisions of our budgets through supplementary budgets,” he asserted.

In addition, Hon. Ichung’wah criticized accounting officers and heads of parastatals for hiding their Appropriations-in-Aid (A-in-A) and rushing to procure goods and services in the final month of the financial year.

“From experience, particularly those who have served in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Public Investments Committee (PIC), you will notice that most issues of corruption in Government arise towards the end of a financial year or in the run-up to a General Election,” he said.

The Leader of the Majority Party, however, noted that the centralized collection of A-in-A via the E-Citizen platform has significantly improved Government accountability.

“I encourage the Government and the National Treasury to ensure seamless engagement between the National Treasury and all our MDAs. This will ensure transactions have seamless connectivity from the MDAs to the National Treasury, ensuring every coin raised by MDAs is accounted for,” he asserted.