•He wants budget cuts for the Office of the President, Defence and Interior ministries to provide the resources for the kitty
•Sossion, on his part, is seeking the inclusion of Sh2 billion to finance the Teachers Professional Development.
Image: COURTESY
Deputy President William Ruto’s allies have proposed amendments to the Budget Policy Statement 2022 to provide resources for Hustlers.
Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wa and Nominated MP Wilson Sossion want the budget ceilings changed to slash Sh177 billion and apportion to small businesses and counties.
Ichungwa wants MPs to allocate Sh50 billion for credit to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that were affected by Covid-19.
He wants budget cuts for the Office of the President, Defence and Interior ministries to provide the resources for the kitty.
The MP further wants the allocation to counties, currently proposed at Sh370 billion, increased to Sh495 billion, citing a promise by President Uhuru Kenyatta of more money to counties.
Sossion, on his part, is seeking the inclusion of Sh2 billion to finance the Teachers Professional Development by the teachers' employer TSC.
The provision, however, has already been considered by the Kieni MP Kanini Kega-led Budget committee in its report recently tabled in Parliament.
The Kega-led team has approved Sh1.55 trillion ceiling as spending for the national government Executive and Sh18.9 billion for the Judiciary.
Of the approved allocation to the national government, the Office of the Auditor General would be provided with as much as Sh6.4 billion in the next budget.
The Budget Committee has set a Sh370 billion ceiling as equitable share for county governments, whereas Sh7.07 billion has been set as the cap for the Equalisation Fund.
Conditional grants to the devolved units have been set at Sh37 billion despite calls for rationalisation of ministry budget to fit within the available deficit window of Sh400 billion.
BAC reported that it received additional requests amounting to Sh125 billion from the departmental committees following requests by MDAs.
Among those considered in the additional provisions is the Education Ministry, which is set to get Sh4 billion for CBC infrastructure.
MPs have also recommended Sh20 billion for primary schools, while the secondary schools' budget is set to be capped at Sh81 billion.
The committee has also recommended an additional Sh2.5 billion to the Teachers Service Commission for the recruitment of 500 secondary school teachers.
The commission has also been provided with an additional Sh2.5 billion for teacher professional development – CBC training.