Nairobi, Kenya, Feb 8- Treasury has proposed the slashing of the Ministry of Interior and National Administration budget to Sh112.1 billion down from Sh 143.5 billion in what could deal a major blow to the country’s security.
The Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning Njuguna Ndung’u said the decision was reached on account of rationalization of expenditures.
He also singled out the transfer of functions by President William Ruto’s administration as another reason for the budget cut.
“The Estimates have been revised to KSh.112.1 billion in the FY 2022/23 Supplementary Estimates No.1 reflecting a net decrease of KSh.31.4 billion on account of rationalization of expenditures and transfer of functions to other State Departments,” he said.
The Interior Ministry is tasked with creating an enabling environment for Kenya’s development through provision of security and safety to citizens and their property.
It is also charged with maintaining a credible national integrated identity system, promotion of national cohesion and coordination of national government functions.
In recent months, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has expressed his desire to improve on the country’s state of security including combating crime and terrorism.
In the budget, President William Ruto’s government has proposed to increase the spending plan for the 2022/23 financial year to Sh3.72trillion from Sh 3.36trillion, with the main focus on recurrent spending to narrow the country’s fiscal deficit.
The Treasury increased the recurrent expenditure by Sh92 billion to Sh1.49 trillion from Sh1.4 trillion.
Recurrent expenditure usually includes civil servant salaries, domestic and foreign interest payments, pensions, and fuel costs for the government fleet of vehicles.
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