National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee chairperson Ndindi Nyoro has explained why expenditure cuts are necessary at all levels of government to address the budget hole following the rejection of the finance bill.
Nyoro said Monday that MPs who are among the losers have agreed to accept the reality of having a reduction on CDF despite it being so dear to them.
According to the Kiharu MP, this is the first time the allocation is being cut with no contestation from the members.
“For the first time in my term of service as a MP, I have never had any other chance where CDF is being cut and there is none complaining about it...this is the first time I am seeing it,” he said.
“We are doing that because we know where we are and we need to look at our finances and live within our means.”
Nyoro made the remarks during a committee meeting in which Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo appeared.
Parliament, he added, has been affected noting it will lose Sh3.7 billion while equitable share having a cut of Sh20 billion.
Nyoro noted that the budget cuts affect all levels of government and departments of the national government.
“We have had to look at ourselves internally and inwardly and look at the expenditure that we can postpone and others that we could cancel in a manner that matches the revenue that we expect,” he stated.
Mudavadi acknowledged that the country was in ‘tight’ situation hence the need for radical measures.
“This is the first time in the history of government that a supplementary estimate is coming into place barely a month after the new financial year comes into force...this calls for tough measures,” he said.
The PCS at the same time stated that the ongoing demonstrations in the country are posing serious risks to the economic activities.
He noted that this has affected the collection of revenue and caused negative impacts on tourism as well as business disruption o businesses.
“Even this supplementary figures we are working on , if this persists then we shall be forced to look again for further cuts and adjustments,” he said.