BY RYEKOLAL RAPHIE KAMPALA UGANDA

NAIROBI-The Kenyan government is seeking to borrow Sh16.5 billion from the domestic market to plug a gap in its budget, even as it asked MPs to endorse its Sh42 billion Supplementary Budget to be drawn from the Consolidated Fund.

Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta told MPs that all the ministries had asked for up to Sh123 billion in additional funding, but due to inadequate funds, not all this money could be granted.

An additional Sh22.1 billion (to the supplementary kitty) the minister said, will be raised from under-expenditure mop-ups in various ministries and the existing contingency kitty, especially in cases where projects earmarked for this financial year were not implemented. Re-allocations will cater for Sh22.9 billion.

Mr Kenyatta had to add the Supplementary Budget, which were meant only for crucial projects that if not implemented, the country would grind to a halt.

Top on the list of beneficiaries is the Interim Independent Electoral Commission which got Sh5.6 billion in additional income to carry out its functions. The money is meant for the registration of voters in preparation for the upcoming referendum. Also, the money will be used to benefit the political parties and funding by-elections ahead of the next annual budget to be read in next three months.

The University lecturers, who recently threatened to go on strike, also have a reason to smile after Mr Kenyatta included Sh1.94 billion in the estimates tabled in Parliament Tuesday afternoon. The money will help increase the salaries for the dons as per their collective bargaining agreement.

Overall, drought mitigation will take Sh24.2 billion of the supplementary budget, Sh4.5 billion for Elnino rains, Sh1.3billion for the purchase of maize for the strategic grain reserves, and Sh2.or the national census shortfall. The national security also gets a boost of Sh2.5 billion.

But with Mr Kenyatta working on a seemingly tight resource envelope, MPs did not spare him as they pointed out that some crucial interventions had been omitted. Nonetheless, they supported.

Meanwhile, Ms Martha Karua (Gichugu, Narc Kenya) who said some (40,000 tonnes of) maize, reportedly genetically modified, is already at the port of Mombasa waiting to be cleared into the country.

Given the recent history of maize imports, Ms Karua said, Parliament ought to be assured that by endorsing the supplementary budget, then the money won't end up in the pockets of a few Kenyans.

Following the previous maize scandal people have become rich, but then the Kacc (Kenya anti-corruption commission) keeps telling us there's no evidence,said Ms Karua.

Is there any good faith in this or are we being forced to vote money for the benefit of corruption cartels? posed the Gichugu MP.She also added that procurement shortcuts were to blame for the wastage in public expenditure.

Ms Karua also said that resettlement of internally displaced people as a result of post-poll violence-- ought to be factored in the budget, because with the delay, the government was confirming that it was complicit of the original criminal acts of chasing Kenyans from their homes.
End