- An earlier memo dated October 5, asked the officers to present actual salaries between July and September and estimates of wages to the end of June next year.
- This sparked speculation there are plans to vary workers’ salaries.
Image: PCS
President William Ruto's budget cuts order is taking shape in government with indications it will affect delivery of key services.
Hotels and Resorts that host government meetings and training are some of the sectors set to feel the heat of the austerity measures.
This is because the government's biggest cuts touch on actual expenditures on utilities, rent, contracted guards and cleaning services.
The accounting officers are expected to furnish the Planning Ministry with an updated status of capital projects, projects with implementation challenges and details of all new projects in the 2022/23 budget.
The National Treasury has directed the ministries, departments and agencies to revise their budgets downwards in line with budget cuts recently announced.
“The budget cuts have targeted various items such as local and foreign training, office and general supplies, hospitality supplies and services, local and foreign travel, purchase of office furniture, purchase of office equipment and various projects that have low absorption rates and/or challenges of implementation,” a memo from the Treasury read in part.
The memo dated November 1, and addressed to all government departments and accounting officers, said the National Treasury has complied with the requirement and thus constrained the FY 2022/23 budget.
An earlier memo dated October 5, asked the officers to present actual salaries between July and September and estimates of wages to the end of June next year.
This sparked speculation there are plans to vary workers’ salaries.
Another memo has again directed what is required of the departments to address the issue.
“Subsequently, it has become inevitable to cut down on some activities and effect the following control measures to manage expenditures.”
The new memo directed that all meetings and taskforces engagements be held in boardrooms and new training approvals be suspended.
Also affected are requisition for lunches that will be limited, approvals for purchase of office furniture, fittings, computers and ICT materials.
It added approvals for workshop and retreats that will remain suspended except in exceptional circumstances.
The departments were directed to comply to ensure no commitments are made without supporting funding in line with the PM Act and its regulations.
“For approval of any activity including those supported under donor framework, there has to be a demonstration of sufficient funding under the appropriate budget head.”
The developments are part of efforts by the Treasury to effect a Sh300 billion cut to the 2022/23 budget.
In the National Police Service, there are fears police response to various scene may be affected as the department implements the directive.”
A memo by the NPS told commanders to reduce essential trips using their official vehicles to cut on fuel and lubricant consumption and not use them on private trips.
“Stop all non essential travel on both domestic and foreign travel, postpone all new projects and those with implementation challenges like stalled projects and stop payment of all meal and facilitation allowances,” said part of the memo.
The officers were also told the officials to strictly follow government regulations in paying the allowances, reduce allocation on airtime by 25 percent, postpone all refurbishment of buildings, freeze on purchase of office furniture and institutional equipment.
Further, the officers were told to cut on advertising and printing to bear minimum, cut on office tea imprest by 50 percent, cut on temporary imprest issued for buying tea and snacks during meetings and reduce to bear minimum expenditure on office stationery.
“Avoid wastage and minimize expenditure on all other goods and services across the board.”
Insiders say the move is likely to impact the crime management at large.
“Expect a non responsive team to various scenes. We wish we were exempted,” said one officer.
Police use such excuses to avoid responding to scenes.
President William Ruto ordered the National Treasury to cut S300 billion from the 2022/23 budget to relieve Kenya’s spending and borrowing pressures.
In his address to a joint Parliamentary sitting on September 29, Ruto said the reduction of spending is pegged on reducing the government’s borrowing needs from an estimated Sh900 billion in the fiscal year to close the financing hole.
“We should never borrow to finance recurrent expenditure. It is not right, prudent or sustainable. It is simply wrong. We must bring ourselves and our country to sanity,” Ruto said.
“To this end, I have instructed Treasury to work with Ministries to find at least Sh300 billion in this year’s budget so that we can remove it because the market cannot sustain the kind of borrowing we are doing as government.”
According to data from the National Treasury, spending across the 2022/23 financial year has been estimated at Sh3.358 trillion against revenues projected at Sh2.462 trillion.
This to leave behind a financing hole estimated at Sh862.9 billion to be plugged through Sh280.7 billion in next foreign financing and Sh582.2 billion in net domestic financing.
Of the Sh3.4 trillion budget, Sh2.271 trillion is estimated to be recurrent expenditure which includes spending by ministries apart from capital allocations.
Ruto has proposed reforms to the taxation system including a culture change by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
“The tax burden must reflect ability to pay. Those at the bottom of the pyramid should pay what is proportional. We will be proposing tax measures that begin to move us towards the right direction," Ruto added.