• Outgoing vice chairman Moses Lessonet (Eldama Ravine MP) did not defend his seat.
•MPs Bernard Shinali and Kitui Central's Makali Mulu applied for the vice chairperson post but the vote did not proceed for lack of quorum for voting.
Image: FILE
Kieni MP Kanini Kega has been elected to chair the powerful Budget and Appropriation Committee for a term of three years.
Kega was elected unopposed as he was the only one who had submitted application by close of business Friday.
Outgoing vice chairman Moses Lessonet (Eldama Ravine MP) did not defend his seat.
MPs Bernard Shinali (Ikolomani) and Kitui Central's Dr Makali Mulu applied for the vice chairperson post but the vote did not proceed for lack of quorum for voting.
Director of Audit and Appropriations Committees Florence Atenyo said a quorum of 14 is required for the vote by secret ballot as spelled in Standing Orders 179.
"The election of vice chairperson is postponed. The majority should be 50 per cent plus one which is 14 members. The vote is by secret ballot hence all have to be here," Atenyo said.
Kega was among MPs who were assigned leadership to committees during last year's Jubilee Party purge on rebels.
The committee was previously under the leadership of Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung'wa, whose removal was linked to his close ties with DP William Ruto.
The committee has a life span of three financial years and is instrumental in the budget making process.
Kega said the team's first task would be to review the 2021 Budget Policy Statement and 2021 Medium Term Debt Management Strategy.
"We have a lot to deal with within very tight deadlines. Now that we have leadership we will embark on the BPS among other budget processes as is required of us," the Kieni legislator said.
After the BPS, MPs are expected to consider the Division of Revenue Bill and the County Allocation of Revenue Bill - businesses that ought to be concluded by April 30, 2021.
The committee's reconstitution saw the introduction of several new members among them Kajiado North MP Joseph Manje as well as Navkholo MP and National Assembly chief whip Emmanuel Wangwe.
The team will have the responsibility of working on the Budget of financial year 2021-22 and for the preceding year.
The election comes as Kenya plans to spend at least Sh2.968 trillion in the next financial year starting July 1, as the government works out its post-Covid-19 recovery.
This is about Sh90 billion more than the current financial year's Sh2.8 trillion even as the economy continues to suffer from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the proposed budget, Treasury has adjusted upwards spending in key areas seen to be drivers and enablers of President Uhuru Kenyatta's “Big Four Agenda”.