• No significant changes to revamp referral hospitals or to boost research in Kemri or for mass recruitment of healthcare workers.
• The health budget only adjusted to cater to inflationary trends, the PBO report reads.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
The country has not factored in the coronavirus fight in the 2020-21 budget, an analysis by Parliamentary Budget Office shows.
Only Sh2.6 billion has been allocated towards mass testing for the coronavirus under the Kenya Covid-19 Emergency Response Project.
“There are no significant changes made towards revamping referral hospitals or to boost research in Kemri or for mass recruitment of healthcare workers,” the PBO said.
However, the health budget was adjusted to cater to inflationary trends, the PBO report reads.
PBO faulted the 2020-21 budget proposal for failing to address the health and income needs and its silence on the next phase of the economic recovery.
The report states that the budget should have provided for direct cash support for those who have lost livelihoods, especially the urban poor.
“Immediate needs basically entail boosting the capacity of the health system to respond to disaster as we as providing an income safety net to deal with hunger and other needs particularly for the urban poor who are the hardest hit,” PBO said.
It added, “Thus, massive effort, beyond current measures, should have been seen towards recruitment of additional health workers, revamping of health facilities particularly the referral hospital and acquisition of medical equipment.”
The Covid-19 funding hitch was hotly debated in Parliament on Wednesday last week.
Minority leader John Mbadi and Wajir North MP Ibrahim Ahmed put the government to task on its commitment to containing the virus.
“It is disheartening to look at the budget estimates and see it being taken as business as usual. There are no clear provisions for resources to fight this pandemic,” Mbadi said.
He wondered why the government was "behaving normally" and the disease is "behaving abnormally".
“Something is happening in this country that needs to be addressed. We are the people’s representatives. We must address it,” he said.
Ahmed told the government to reorganise its priorities if it is serious in its war against the coronavirus.
“By the way, the Sh2.6 billion we are talking about seems to be only meant for Covid-19 infected areas and not the 290 constituencies in this country,” he said.
Ahmed said that the only ongoing interventions in most constituencies are cessation of movement and curfew.
“So, what are we appropriating this money for? We must get our priorities right,” he said.
The PBO report observes that most of the government’s Covid-19 interventions are outside the budget framework.
For instance, the report noted that the government is solely relying on the Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund which is funded from well-wishers’ donations to fight the virus in the country.
The Emergency Fund is managed separately from the Consolidated Fund.
“Though the Covid-19 Fund is an important intervention particularly with regard to raising resources, it may not be sustainable and should not be relied on solely to mitigate the impact of the crisis.
“The national budget must play its part. It is time for an economic stimulus through the budget,” the report reads.
The budget office also put a strong case for the protection of SMEs who are the hardest hit to help the economic recovery.
“Thus for the next phase of recovery, the 2020-21 budget should have also included measures to jumpstart the economy as health crisis wears off rather than leaving the recovery to market dynamics.”
Some businesses may never recover from this crisis, especially if the crisis persists into the third quarter, the PBO said.
(edited by o. owino)