The government on Thursday spelt out its spending plan for the period covering July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025.
It rolled out an ambitious Sh4 trillion budget, which will go towards development, and recurrent expenditure both at the national and county level.
The Kenya Kwanza government expects to fund the budget through taxation, levies and limited borrowing.
It also spelt out a raft of austerity measures among them a freeze in public service employment, reduced foreign travel, a cut on workshops in hotels and a freeze in refurbishment of government buildings and purchase of new furniture.
Kenyans are overburdened by taxes and many are struggling to put a meal on the table.
The government must therefore show that it is indeed determined to end ostentatious expenditures by putting every coin raised from taxes into good use.
Sadly most of the cost-cutting measures announced in previous budgets have always remained mere statements.
Ministers and top public servants still continue to use fuel guzzlers despite pronouncements that this would be restricted.
Foreign and local travel coupled with workshops in big hotels by national and county government officials have become moneymaking ventures.
Offices and residences of top officials are renovated annually and new furniture is bought just to create an avenue for people to eat.
National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndungu's cost-cutting measures must not just be public relations pronouncements but must be fully executed to restore hope among suffering Kenyans.
Quote of the Day: “Experience teaches us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession. ”
George Washington
He was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army on June 15, 1775, the day after Congress established the force