There is a challenge. The committees are struggling. We are hoping that the problem will be unlocked.
The committees applied for the money. It is expected the National Treasury can release the money to the Senate, then the Senate can distribute it to the committees.
As to why that is happening, I don’t think the Senate is the right body to ask. It is the National Treasury.
The release of funds to the Senate is not smooth. There is unnecessary delay in the release of funds.
There was also the budget cut, amounting to 20 per cent due to the austerity measures triggered by the withdrawal of the Finance Bill, 2024.
As the President said, all arms of the government would be affected.
So, as Parliament, we have equally been affected. Our budget has been cut down and, therefore, we expect this to be difficult, not just for Parliament, but also for other arms of government as well.
It is true, we have pending bills. Because of where I sit (in the leadership), we have decided how to manage it. The pending bills, as the money starts being released from the national Treasury, will all be paid.
But other services in the Senate will be affected, including money normally set aside for foreign and domestic travel. We have agreed that we cut that.
We have also agreed that we are going to suspend the sitting of the Senate outside Nairobi. This time it was going to sit in Busia. We have reversed that decision.
We have moved the sitting from this year to the next financial year.
We are also currently debating about changing our hosting of the East African Community parliamentary games because it is an expense. We are supposed to host the games this year.
We are now toying with the idea of pulling out of hosting the games so that another country can host them.
We have been to South Sudan, Kigali, Rwanda, and it was time for Kenya to host them this year.
The Senate Majority Whip spoke to the Star