House team shoots down expenditure for cancelled Siaya investor conference

The Budget and Appropriations Committee, in a report tabled in the National Assembly, says it declined the approval on the grounds that the event never took place.

The budget team led by Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi noted that the funds were approved and disbursed to support the conference, putting the concerned officers on the spot.

The Siaya conference did not take place following the passing of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga only two days before it was scheduled to start.

"The committee noted that Sh60 million was approved and disbursed under Article 223 of the Constitution to support the Siaya International Trade and Investment Conference. However, following the passing of the former Prime Minister… the conference did not take place, rendering the expenditure unjustified," the report says.

The committee has recommended that Parliament reject the Sh60 million while approving the remaining Sh41.34 billion in Article 223 expenditures.

Governor James Orengo, at the time of the cancellation, said new dates would be communicated. Nothing has been said of the event to date.

It is the second time MPs have rejected expenditures that were executed ahead of their approval; the first involved the Sh6 billion Telkom buyout.

In the latter, MPs rejected the expenditure and directed the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate the matter with a view to recovering the funds.

MPs have yet to approve expenditures amounting to Sh4 billion under the Uhuru Kenyatta-era maize subsidy. It remains unclear how the funds will be recovered.

The latest rejection has opened a debate about how the government uses, and abuses, the constitutional provision meant for genuine emergencies.

Article 223 of the Constitution allows the National Government to incur expenditure without prior parliamentary approval.

Ideally, it should apply where funds are insufficient, where no provision was made, or where money is withdrawn from the Contingencies Fund.

The Constitution requires that such expenditure be reported to Parliament within two months for approval.

In this financial year alone, the National Treasury approved Sh245.9 billion under Article 223, comprising Sh44.8 billion in recurrent expenditure and Sh56.7 billion in development expenditure.

Another Sh144.4 billion was expended under Consolidated Fund Services, primarily for the buyback of government bonds.

Of the Sh245 billion, Sh185.8 billion has already been disbursed, including the Sh144.4 billion for bond buybacks and Sh9 billion for social protection and food relief.

Also disbursed were Sh5.5 billion for internal security operations, Sh3.8 billion for university lecturers' salary arrears, and Sh3.1 billion for national examinations.

The House team observed that some of the expenditures, while important, "were not truly unforeseen and could have either been incorporated in the original estimates.”

MPs, while not naming which other expenditures fell into this category, held that the government may be using the emergency provision as a way out for poor budget planning.

The committee has given Treasury CS John Mbadi up to September 30, 2026, to submit to Parliament trends of allocations under Article 223.

They want the report to include the proportion of such expenditures to the approved budget by vote or spending entity for the period FY 2022-23 to date.

"This information will help the National Assembly address the growing reliance on Article 223 spending, which continues to reduce the credibility of the approved annual budget," the report says.

Earlier this year, the Controller of Budget flagged billions of shillings in irregular commitments under similar provisions.